September 9, 2008
Why Do Men Have Nipples?
Why Do Men Have Nipples? Hundreds of Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini by Mark Leyner
My review
rating: 3 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this as light reading. The curse of books like this is that if you're a longtime fan of such books or simply have an interest in health and science you see a lot of repeat information.
The humor in this book was a little goofy. Interspersed among the questions are IM sessions between the co-authors who are pretty convinced of their cleverness. If I didn't already have clever friends, I might have enjoyed that more. Also, a somewhat annoying tale of a night of debauchery ties the chapters together.
If that's sugar to help the medicine go down, it was unnecessary. A better model is the approach Cecil Adams takes (see his "Straight Dope" books or website); his entries are often much longer because he intersperses caustic humor into his answers. However, Adams' answers are detailed enough that even if the humor misses, one doesn't mind so much.
If Leyner and Goldberg are trying to lure the skittish into the subject matter, their approach worked; this book was a big seller. maybe I've just read too many of this genre.
Still, a quick read with at least a couple of things I'd not heard before. I already own their other volume, so I'll be reading that as well. Good to carry around in a bookbag or car for a couple of minutes of reading here and there.
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A tale of a "right of debauchery?" or "rite"?
Posted by: mjfrombuffalo at September 9, 2008 7:04 PM