Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex

I really dug Ms. Roach's first book, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, and had fun with her second book, Spook: Science Tackles The Afterlife. But I found this one a little more put-downable. I read it over several months in various-sized chunks. Some of the chapters made me wrinkle my nose and go “ewww” and I did a little skipping here and there since I wasn't all that interested in learning about people doing what sounds like tortuous things to their penis. I don't need that. And some of the people she interviews are... a bit nutty. I did learn some stuff though, a good deal of it pretty interesting and also it's stuff that people never talk about (like the bit about what happens to rape victims). I also learned that humans are the only ones shy about sex. Chimpanzees will calmly stare you in the face as they are flogging their carrot. That might be a bit off-putting. So, all-in-all, I'd say this book was a mixed bag. But this is probably my only review to include the phrase “flogging their carrot.” For now.