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Bonk
336 pages
A hilarious, unapologetic romp through the awkward and fascinating science of human sexuality.
What it feels like
Reading this feels like sitting next to the smartest, funniest person at a dinner party as they regale you with wildly inappropriate but utterly fascinating scientific history. The pace is brisk and episodic, bouncing from pig farms to MRI machines with an infectious, wide-eyed curiosity. It is deeply irreverent but never mean-spirited, treating the awkwardness of human bodies and the eccentricities of sex researchers with a warm, wry affection. The prose is conversational and packed with laugh-out-loud footnotes that feel like whispered secrets. It is the perfect read for anyone who loves pop science served with a heavy dose of absurdity, zero prudishness, and a genuine appreciation for the weirdness of being human.
- Mood
- lighthearted
- curious
- absurd
- fascinating
- Tone
- wry
- inquisitive
- irreverent
- humorous
- conversational
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- the absurdity of human bodies · scientific curiosity · breaking taboos · the eccentricities of research
- The writing
- Witty, accessible, and conversational, heavily peppered with hilarious footnotes and sharp observational humor.
- The arc
- Moves from amused curiosity to a deeper, affectionate appreciation for the bizarre lengths scientists go to understand human pleasure.
- Who it's for
- Curious minds who love pop science delivered with a heavy dose of humor and absolutely zero prudishness.
Content notes
- sexual content
- anatomical descriptions
- historical animal testing
About the book
Few things are as fundamental to human happiness as sex, and few writers are as entertaining about the subject as Mary Roach. Can a woman think herself to orgasm? Is your penis three inches longer than you think? Why doesn't Viagra help women - or, for that matter, pandas? Does orgasm boost fertility? Or cure hiccups? The study of sexual physiology - what happens, and why, and how to make it happen better - has been taking place behind closed doors for hundreds of years. In this fascinating and funny book, Mary Roach steps inside laboratories, brothels, pig farms, sex-toy R&D labs - even Alfred Kinsey's attic - to tell us everything we wanted to know about sex, and a lot we'd never even thought to ask.
Description from Open Library.
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