Book Review: Perv by Jesse Bering

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book review perv, human sexuality, jesse bering, non-fiction, psychology, science, sexology, sexuality books

Perv: The Sexual Deviant in All of Us

by Jesse Bering

genre: non-fiction, psychology, sexology, science, human sexuality

A great book exploring big topics in human sexual deviancy. Find out why I gave it 5 out of 5 stars!

Summary

(Taken from Goodreads)

Combining cutting-edge studies and critiques of landmark research and conclusions drawn by Sigmund Freud, Alfred Kinsey, and the DSM-5, Bering pulls the curtain back on paraphilias, arguing that sexual deviance is commonplace. He explores the countless fetishists of the world, including people who wear a respectable suit during the day and handcuff a willing sexual partner at night. But he also takes us into the lives of “erotic outliers,” such as a woman who falls madly in love with the Eiffel Tower; a pair of deeply affectionate identical twins; those with a particular penchant for statues; and others who are enamored of crevices not found on the human body.Moving from science to politics, psychology, history, and his own reflections on growing up gay in America, Bering confronts hypocrisy, prejudice, and harm as they relate to sexuality on a global scale. Humanizing so-called deviants while at the same time asking serious questions about the differences between thought and action, he presents us with a challenge: to understand that our best hope of solving some of the most troubling problems of our age hinges entirely on the amoral study of sex.As kinky as it is compassionate, illuminating, and engrossing, Perv is an irresistible and deeply personal book. “I can’t promise you an orgasm at the end of our adventure,” Bering writes, “but I can promise you a better understanding of why you get the ones you do.”

Review

This book on sexual deviancy caught my attention and I’m glad it did. I love that it focused so much on the psychology of sex and desire and also morality/ethics of sexual desire and behaviour. It covers a great range of sexuality topics from sexual orientations, chronophilias (desired age ranges), paraphilias, and partialisms. Fascinating and weird fetishes were discussed (there was a case study of a man who sexually obsessed over used boots) but so were to the uncomfortable and confronting chronophilias: pedophilia and hebephilia.

Jesse, the author, shares his experiences as a homosexual man who was a closeted gay child in the 80s. He often compares the treatment of the homosexuals then to how we treat other sexual deviants today. I think using homosexuality in this way was smart because culture in developed nations has been changing its attitudes towards homosexuals and for the better. Will the disgust we hold for other sexual deviants also disappear in time with social change?

Book Review: Bonk by Mary Roach

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book review bonk, curious coupling of sex and science, human sexuality, mary roach, non-fiction, psychology, science, sexology, sexual physiology, sexuality book

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex

by Mary Roach

genre: non-fiction, psychology, sexology, science, human sexuality

A decent book that covers a little bit of everything in the realm of sex science. Find out why I gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars!

Summary

(Taken from Goodreads)

The study of sexual physiology – what happens, and why, and how to make it happen better – has been a paying career or a diverting sideline for scientists as far-ranging as Leonardo da Vinci and James Watson. The research has taken place behind the closed doors of laboratories, brothels, MRI centers, pig farms, sex-toy R&D labs, and Alfred Kinsey’s attic.Mary Roach, “the funniest science writer in the country” (Burkhard Bilger of ‘The New Yorker’), devoted the past two years to stepping behind those doors. Can a person think herself to orgasm? Can a dead man get an erection? Is vaginal orgasm a myth? Why doesn’t Viagra help women or, for that matter, pandas?

In ‘Bonk’, Roach shows us how and why sexual arousal and orgasm, two of the most complex, delightful, and amazing scientific phenomena on earth, can be so hard to achieve and what science is doing to slowly make the bedroom a more satisfying place. 16 illustrations.

Review

I grabbed this book hesitantly. As someone who wants to learn a lot about sexology in a scientific and critical way, I was worried that this book would have too much pop-science. It was surprisingly enjoyable and I learned quite a bit.

The good: I really enjoyed the sexology history. There was a lot of content dedicated to sex researchers (like Kinsey and Masters) and their contributions to sexology and science. Even though I knew of the famous ones like Kinsey, I was happy to learn the details of their careers and achievements. I love reading research that is serious about sex. There is so much we have yet to learn because of how sex often makes people feel uncomfortable. And I’m grateful I learned more about these great researchers. I also liked how the author talked about the difficulties and barriers these researchers ran into as they tried to conduct their work.

Book Review: What If? By Randal Munroe

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book, book review, books, Firely, humor, non-fiction, physics, review, reviews, River Tam, science, Star Wars, What If? Randal Munrroe, xkcd

What if?
Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

by Randal Munroe

genre: non-fiction, humor

Synopsis from Goodreads

Randall Munroe left NASA in 2005 to start up his hugely popular site XKCD ‘a web comic of romance, sarcasm, math and language’ which offers a witty take on the world of science and geeks. It’s had over a billion page hits to date. A year ago Munroe set up a new section – What If – where he tackles a series of impossible questions: If your cells suddenly lost the power to divide, how long would you survive? How dangerous is it, really, in a pool in a thunderstorm? If we hooked turbines to people exercising in gyms, how much power could we produce? What if everyone only had one soulmate? From what height would you need to drop a steak to ensure it was cooked by the time it reached the ground? What would happen if the moon went away? This book gathers together the best entries along with lots of new gems. From The Lord of the Rings, Star Trek and the songs of Tim Minchin, through chemistry, geography and physics, Munroe leaves no stone unturned in his quest for knowledge. And his answers are witty and memorable and studded with hilarious cartoons and infographics. Far more than a book for geeks, WHAT IF explains the laws of science in operation in a way that every intelligent reader will enjoy and feel the smarter for having read.

__expert writers use speech part of the brain more than novice writers

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creative writing science, differences between novice and expert writers, science, study, writing, writing experiments

As a student of science, I love reading up on new studies. I stumbled across one study that looked at the differences between novice and experienced writers. Creativity is incredibly difficult to study which is why it caught my attention.

In the study, they had two groups of volunteers participate in a creative writing workshop. One group had no experience in creative writing and the other were experienced. When the participants wrote their stories, the vision-processing areas of the brain became active for both groups. This makes sense as writers often talk about “seeing” the scenes that they are writing.

But there was a difference between seasoned writers and novices.

The brains of expert writers also showed activity in regions involved in speech. “I think both groups are using different strategies,” Lotze said to Zimmer. It’s possible that the amateurs are watching their stories like a movie inside their heads, but the professionals may use their inner voice to narrate the story instead, explained Lotze.

I thought it was a cool little study. It’s interesting that the experienced writers used the brain area of speech much more than novice writers. Maybe expert writers are much more aware of how they are using language, how they are crafting their sentences, developing character voice, and focusing on dialogue? I’m not sure, but it’s interesting.

What do you think of the study’s findings?

To read more click HERE.

– Ermisenda

Book Review: Mount Dragon by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

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Mount Dragon

by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

genre: mystery, science fiction

Synopsis from Goodreads

Mount Dragon: an enigmatic research complex hidden in the vast desert of New Mexico. Guy Carson and Susana Cabeza de Vaca have come to Mount Dragon to work shoulder to shoulder with some of the greatest scientific minds on the planet. Led by visionary genius Brent Scopes, their secret goal is a medical breakthrough that promises to bring incalculable benefits to the human race. But while Scopes believes he is leading the way to a new world order, he may in fact be opening the door to mass human extinction. And when Guy and Susana attempt to stop him they find themselves locked in a frightening battle with Scopes, his henchmen, and the apocalyptic nightmare that science has unleashed.