Jesse Bering, Why Is the Penis Shaped Like That? And Other Reflections on Being Human
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Raising questions (among other things) about the science of human sexuality
Jesse Bering is sort of the Michael Pollan of boners; he’s read up, studied up, sought out, asked around and second-guessed all of the available research, but remains wise enough to know there’s a lot we still don’t know about human sexuality. The joy of Why Is the Penis Shaped Like That? comes as much from the questions it raises as the answers it provides. And Bering’s fearless curiosity (and affinity for juicy tidbits) has led him to some interesting places in this collection of essays: the adaptive function of the female orgasm, “fag hags,” zoophiles, gorilla pubes, the relentless pursuit of autofellatio and more. If somebody’s doing lab work on female ejaculate or determining the R.E.M. sleep factors that lead to morning wood, this man is on the case.
A former psych researcher and professor whose byline you’ll find in Scientific American and Slate, Bering’s got a place in his heart for hard science and nerdspeak. But he’s also a funny dude. Humor is a useful lube, intellectually, and Bering’s willing to get playful and personal. It helps that he’s the narrator; it’s much easier to gauge his confidence in his jokes this way. Now we know that his centaur sex dream was serious business.
