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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
This book is fantastic. The best of Angier. She is so passionate and interesting. Made me, a tomboy since birth, proud to be a woman.
So...I knew going into this, that the book was already out of date (I think it was published in 1999?). So, given that, it’s easier to give many of the assumptions about gender and “womanhood” a proverbial pass. Even though the author wants to move beyond so many stereotypes and assumptions about those things, she plays right into so much of them with her approach to the writing. In the first half of the book I swear my eyes rolled more times than I could count.
So why did I keep reading? Well, the science that she covers is really interesting — anatomy, biology, chemistry, and so on — and since I am, personally, a hetereosexual cis-gendered woman, the content was very relevant and informative even with its problematic exclusions.
And there is a chapter or two about menopause and female relationships and attachment (with our mothers and other women) that has some very poignant perspectives that really resonated as emotional truth (personally).
So why did I keep reading? Well, the science that she covers is really interesting — anatomy, biology, chemistry, and so on — and since I am, personally, a hetereosexual cis-gendered woman, the content was very relevant and informative even with its problematic exclusions.
And there is a chapter or two about menopause and female relationships and attachment (with our mothers and other women) that has some very poignant perspectives that really resonated as emotional truth (personally).
This book was fascinating! Highly recommend it to all, regardless of the reader's gender.
I learned a lot of new things reading this book. It had a plethora of information about women's bodies, how they work, and why they work that way. Very interesting.
This took me foreeevvvveeerrr to finish. 1) I was hella busy this month. 2) It wasn't as interesting as I expected it would be. Also, it was a weird mix of having a very exclusive definition of "woman" while citing very inclusive examples of different kinds of women (biologically speaking) so it was kind of eehhhhhh.
Everyone, woman or man, needs to read this book. It is serious, funny, empowering, and enlightening. I am in love with this book and with myself. :) That can only be a good thing!!
Angier's approach to the subject strikes me as rather biological essentialist, which is decidedly _not_ my jam. However, her writing is funny enough to override some of my dislike (not all though).
This reminds me of the feminist books of the 90s that emphasized girl power and sisterhood and sort of just pushed the whole gender spectrum and lesbians to the side. It's not inherently terrible, but it's also definitely not the best. A lot of the biological stuff she covers is interesting (again, if you can briefly set aside her biological essentialism and bad 90s feminist humor), so I think it's probably worth reading for that alone. Some of her approaches to how she writes about biological happenings remind me of Mary Roach's excellent writing about corpses, though I think Roach is the superior writer.
Torn between 2 and 3 stars. Some of it is out of date, or overstated, but it also tickles my 90s-feminist nostalgia bone.
This reminds me of the feminist books of the 90s that emphasized girl power and sisterhood and sort of just pushed the whole gender spectrum and lesbians to the side. It's not inherently terrible, but it's also definitely not the best. A lot of the biological stuff she covers is interesting (again, if you can briefly set aside her biological essentialism and bad 90s feminist humor), so I think it's probably worth reading for that alone. Some of her approaches to how she writes about biological happenings remind me of Mary Roach's excellent writing about corpses, though I think Roach is the superior writer.
Torn between 2 and 3 stars. Some of it is out of date, or overstated, but it also tickles my 90s-feminist nostalgia bone.
Some people were put off by Angier's style, but I loved it. I loved her dance between philosophical and scientific. I love her brain and her wit. This was the book for me. I've read it once, and it took me two years to do it. I know I've already forgotten important bits. This is one of those books that should sit on one's shelf, proud and showy, and that one pulls out every once in a while, opens at random and breathes in.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Good writing about science is hard to come by, folks. This is some vivid biology with great social commentary. I couldn't put it down. Thanks, Christine!