Author: Matt Ridley
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Value Rating: 10/10
Entertainment Rating: 8/10
Read If: You have any interest in the dynamics between men and women and the forces that are at work in our sexual subconscious.
Do Not Read If: You have no attention span, and big words scare you like a child at nightfall.
Review: I want to start the review of this book like a quote on a movie advertisement. “A Masterpiece.” “Leaps and bounds ahead of the rest.” The reason is that this book likely provides the most comprehensive understanding of sexual selection and evolution out of anything ever written, including the totality of work completed by our old friend Erasmus. Its not necessarily a page turner, but you will find yourself with more dog-ears than a pound, and scurrying for a highlighter so you can remember to tell that feminist friend that clings to your girl like a dingle-ball from a poodles hairy ass what is up!
Here are some of the things I highlighted:
“To summarize the argument so far, evolution is more about reproduction of the fittest than survival of the fittest: every creature on earth is the product of a series of historical battles… Those battles include psychological ones, to manipulate and exploit members of the species; they are never won, for success in one generation only ensures that the foes of the next generation are fitter to fight harder.” –174
“The nature of the human male, then, is to take opportunities, if they are granted to him, for polygamous mating and to use wealth, power, and violence as a means to sexual ends in the competitions with other men…” –206
“Whereas the Chinese emperor Fei-ti once kept ten thousand women in his harem, Gary Hart, running for the presidency of the most powerful nation on Earth, could not even get away with two.” –206
