Mary Roach writes excellent nonfiction books. I loved Stiff, which was about cadavers, and Spook, which was a scientific study of the afterlife. Bonk, about sex, was just as great as the others.
The footnotes are the best part. You must read them. Roach just makes little comments, or expands on studies mentioned. Like how "Nasal congestion is an erection inside your nose.” There are far funnier ones than that. You must read this book.
There are SO MANY funny things. Like a doctor who specializes in erectile dysfunction (“ED”) who makes metaphors about everything. The penis is a “like a tire! Flat!”. “Now he’s ready to make home run. Like a baseball bat!” He performs a surgery in which the veins of the penis are essentially tied together to help prevent blood from leaving the penis. Roach asked, "How would it feel without anesthesia?" He replied, “Like the way to treat a spy”
Also, a lot of the historical references are interesting. A medical “journal” in the 1700s declared that masturbation could cause blindness, impotency, clammy hand, acne, insanity, obesity, heart trouble and fuzzy tongues. Another stated that sex with “ugly” women decreased a man’s sperm count.
Also, the patents on some of the drugs, devices, etc. for sex-related shtuff are hilarious. They try to avoid using “sex” of “masturbation” in the titles, so they end up with things like “Device to Aid in the Pleasure of Physiological Activities”. The same goes for research projects. The names get creative.
Roach had to volunteer to be a test subject in many cases, in order to be able to understand and view (I mean... sort of) the studies. Her poor husband! The studies are typically very, um, invasive. Imagine having sex on a hospital bed while doctors on either side of you apply ultrasound wands to your back, instructing you on how to move. Awkward. Yeah. For many of the studies, the researchers will recruit porn stars, as they are obviously more comfortable in front of other people. They also recruit porn directors/producers, because they know how to film sex properly. It must be an interesting job. Imagine requesting a receipt at a sex shop because buying erotica falls under "business expenses".
In addition to being funny, it was also extremely informative. Did you know that when women orgasm, their earlobes swell slightly? Or that wearing polyester underwear/pants decreases your libido? Cotton is better. Also, dead men can have erections and people who are paralyzed can still have orgasms.
Many studies were mentioned throughout the book, and many publications as well. I'm tempted to go to the library and pick up some of her sources, like Homosexuality in Perspective, which was published in 1979. The first half is about sexual functioning in gay, straight, and lesbian couples. The other half is a gay-to-straight conversion manual. Thus, it the book was ridiculed by the public. But, the first half sounds really interesting. I think I'm too nervous to pick up a stack of books about gay sex from the library though. I might get some weird looks.
Someone asked me if the book was... practical. It's certainly not a how-to manual, and a lot of the chapters are about dysfunction. No, I don't think that the sections on ED will ever be particularly useful to me. The book was written to instruct; It was written to inform and entertain.
READ IT.
Oh, and I also reread the Fountainhead. Just to study for the test and to make sure I didn't miss anything.
Total Book Count: 70
Total NonFic: 23 (32.86%)
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