Customer Reviews

Woman: An Intimate Geography

5 star:		(70)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

This book a wonderful combination of science, opinion, and well-honed wit - the wit and opinion being so much better for being so well based in fact. The writing is filled with first-person passion: not the grim, militant kind, but affection that can afford a good laugh at its subject. Best of all, Angier's affection for her topic (herself included) seems equally based on romanticism and research.

Being in a species with two sexes is interesting, but news from the other side is rarely balanced, complete, or even comprehensible. I value Angier's eloquence and clarity. I also value her ability to incorporate new information into her views, instead of shouting down whatever doesn't match some political manifesto.

The only fault I find in this book is that there is not more of it. The years since she wrote the book have added intriguing facts to the pile such as the genes in embryonic brains that express differently in male and female, long before hormonal effects take hold. Even when "Woman" was written, though, there was plenty of information about matrilineal mitochondria that she could have used - it would have enriched her discussion of genetics. Also, she omitted discussion of the relatively rare women who succeed in the hard sciences. Keeping with her tone, there would have been no need to compare them to the men in the field. They would have been interesting enough in their own right.

I am not a woman myself, just an admirer, companion, co-worker, and occasional visitor. I was very happy to see a writer who not only has such agreeable views, but brings such a wealth of knowledge to the discussion and brings herself, too. Brava!

Even though I haven't actually read this book in a couple of years, I constantly refer to it and recommend it to any woman I know. Angier's holistic examination of all things female--from biology to mythology (and/or nasty rumors)--encourages both pride and amazement in the female body and psyche. If you're female, you definately *need* to read Angier's book, which should be required reading in high school.

I love this book. From the history of hysterectomy to the evolution of the breasts, this book covers at least a thousand things you (especially if you're a woman, too) really ought to know about biological womanhood. Even better than that, it's written by a (female) science writer who can really write, and while it does at times get difficult (well, it's a science book), having to reread a paragraph every once in a while won't kill you -- in fact, it'll help you understand yourself.

Better still, this is an empowering book. Natalie Angier is no 1960s feminist theorist; she's a thoroughly modern lady scientifically pointing out why the female body/mind is different, similar, complicated beyond our wildest dreams, ultimately beautiful and eminently worthy of praise.

Drawing on anthropology (my thing, so I loved that), biology, psychology, genetics, and a host of other fields, Ms. Angier introduces facts, fallacies, theories, hypotheses, and the data itself, and while she sometimes draws her own conclusions, a great deal is left for the reader to make up her (or his -- men can read this book too!) own mind. She includes a healthy dose of speculation, but -- and this is crucial -- she recognizes in the text that she is speculating, she points out the actual data, and again she leaves us to agree with her, modify her ideas, or not.

Bottom line: WOMAN is a treat and a half.

Angier ties together, in a highly readable manner, the complexities of the human body very, very well all the while never loosing site of the whole.

I disagree with her on a few points. I don't think she sufficiently looked at human relationships as far as she could but, overall, this is minor.

Ms. Angier rocks. This book was great, I highly recommend it. It's heaven for those into science but also quite interesting for those who don't want something too technical or clinical. It's really just a lot of fun.

Although the premise of this book is promising and there are a few interesting little facts any real value is obscured by Angier's tired attempts at stylistic wit, complete failure to appropriately cite scientific findings, and blatantly opinionated feminist rhetoric. I was looking forward to learning more about the science behind the mystery of the female body. Needless to say, I was very disappointed.

This is a really interesting book written by a woman for women. I learned all kinds of things! Although it does get a little slow towards the middle, it is a good read.

One of my very favorite books. Love Angier's science writing in the New York Times and can't recommend this book enough. If high school biology had been this fun, we'd all be scientists. Angier deconstructs the myths, explains the truths, and does it all with beautiful writing and a racy kick. A woman or want to understand one better? Read it.

I loved Woman: An Intimate Geography! I have never found a women's health book as informational and entertaining. This well researched book is densely packed with facts and stories about all aspects of the female body. As a nonscientist, I found it especially interesting and easy to read. Despite the amount of information Angier presents, it is not text-booky or heavy reading. I have read it twice thus far, and could happily read it at least twice more in order to learn as much as I can about my body's inner workings. I think any human could benefit from reading Woman.

Angier uses her strong journalist's skills in biology to guide us on an encyclopaedic journey. The excursion examines nearly every aspect of women's bodies, with many mysteries unveiled and hidden facets exposed. She mixes clinical findings with emotional responses in a rich set of information, and no little opinion on meanings. There are countless insights here, and her talent with words makes the reading an easy task. It's a pity her introduction pays only condescending consideration to the value this book might have for male readers. There's treasure here for anyone who wishes to understand the poorly dealt with aspects of what it means to be a woman.

While her exposition covers an extensive array of topics, perhaps the chapter on hormones is of greatest value. Spending much of her time dispensing with what she deems mythology, she underpins her opinions with a hefty dose of information on which hormones are important to a woman's well-being. It's a comprehensive view of the human body's operations reaching well beyond either pure biology or medicine. Still, the information applies to all human bodies, depending on the hormone, reaching well beyond her expressed, if confined, audience. We all need to better understand what is going on in our bodies.

Angier threads personal experiences into the narrative with practiced ease. Her prose is witty and inventive, fertile with metaphor. She's present on almost every page, although there is nothing obtrusive in learning she suffers a thyroid condition, nor in standing with her in an operating theatre. Instead, her personal occurrences bring us closer to the humanity she imparts with these examples. They are situations many women experience, yet occuring without women being told of their cause and likely impact. She uses many of these examples in her attempts to dispel the mythology surrounding many women's physical conditions.

Angier's eloquence may dazzle the unwary, but the careful reader will discern a wealth of inconsistencies. She's at pains to demonstrate her knowledge of the Darwinian paradigm. Unfortunately, her feminist rhetoric trips up her ambition for scientific detachment. Glorying in the massive nerve network of the clitoris compared to the penis, she exults: "Who would want a shotgun when you can have a semi-automatic?" This invidious contrast ignores that it was evolution that granted these gender differences. Neither sex has had a conscious choice in their physiognomy. She ranges over many scientific achievements in revealing the body's features, ignoring that men performed the significant amount of the research available to make this book. Learning the biology and considering our evolutionary roots is rewarding, but the aim of elevating women is undercut by disparaging men.

The book, therefore, is only a qualified success. For a book based on scientific research, her failure to provide references is startling. She calls her bibliography "References" but it takes a serious student to pursue her sources. After building her credibility with a wide-ranging and vivid narrative, in the final chapters she nearly throws it all away. From her crusade to inform us about what's important to and about women, she suddenly elevates her soapbox with a vituperative assault on evolutionary psychology. This is a strange departure, since she's spent much of her text reassuring us of her Darwinian credentials. In this onslaught, she's suddenly given to misquotes, out of context citations and very selective research results. With so much complex information presented in the remainder of the book, she suddenly disturbingly simplifies here. Her celebration of the woman's body and psyche is badly marred by her insistence that as "a free and fiery primate" knowledgeable women will attain supremacy over the world's problems. Dismissing a wealth of work done in recent years on primate behaviour alone is not the way to increase the knowledge store.