This is Mary Roach’s 3rd book. She also wrote articles for salon.com. She seems like she would be a fun person to meet. When something interests her she digs into the subject. No matter how bizarre. Toothbrush research, weights for women’s privates, you get the idea. The only problem with her books that I’ve found is that unless you know someone well, they will look askance at you when you talk about he subject matter.
Ever wonder what could be or is being done with the bodies that are donated to science? How about the study of the afterlife? Just how much does a soul weigh? Check out Stiff
and Spook
for the answers.In Bonk, Mary shows us how science tackles sex. The answer (no pun intended) is mostly at night, quietly, and if the scientists are receiving funding then the stated goals of the research are couched in vague verbiage. Besides the fabulous writing and interesting stories Mary tells; some of the best parts of her books and especially Bonk are the footnotes. They often stray far from the subject matter at hand but really bring out her sense of humor. For example take this nugget about Millard Fillmore and his display of oratory skills. His words upon tasting a soup: The nourishment is palatable.” Okay so taken out of context (like is was in context in the book) it’s not very funny but I laughed when I read that bit. Another footnote tells of a side trip Mary takes into researching which words at Merriam-Webster’s Online website are pronounced by a man and which by a women. Cervix, nipple = women. Vagina, vulva = man.
Like her other books Mary dives into the research. She travels the world to meet the doctors and scientists whose papers she reads. She samples, first hand if you will, the results of penis surgeries. When no subjects are available to watch during a trial of internal scans during sex, she volunteers herself and her husband Ed. We also learn that the Ed’s of the world have gotten a bum rap from all the erectile dysfunction or ED talk. There is a bibliography in case you are interested in further reading.
The only downside to Bonk is the same as to Stiff and Spook that I mentioned. I think it will be hard to discuses the subject with my coworkers.
On a side note the cover of Bonk shows two ladybugs bonking. In high school or maybe middle school I was invited into my neighbors house (the first and last time I ever went inside) to see his new Macintosh computer and the photos he took of ladybugs matting. I guess the world is really just one big circle.
