Review by New York Times Review
THE EVOLUTION OF BEAUTY: How Darwin's Forgotten Theory of Mate Choice Shapes the Animal World - and Us, by Richard 0. Prum. (Doubleday, $30.) A mild-mannered ornithologist makes an impassioned case for the importance of Darwin's second theory as his most radical and feminist. COMING TO MY SENSES: The Making of a Counterculture Cook, by Alice Waters with Cristina Mueller and Bob Carrau. (Clarkson Potter, $27.) The founder of Chez Panisse describes her early days, explaining how a visit to France awakened her interest in excellent food and how she came to embrace the use of organic ingredients. FASTING AND FEASTING: The Life of Visionary Food Writer Patience Gray, by Adam Federman. (Chelsea Green, $25.) Federman's biography is the first of a cult food writer who became famous with the 1986 publication of her influential book "Honey From a Weed." SING, UNBURIED, SING, by Jesmyn Ward. (Scribner, $26.) In her follow-up to the National Book Award-winning novel "Salvage the Bones," Ward tells the story of a Mississippi woman intent on making her fractured family whole again. THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS: The United States During Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1898, by Richard White. (Oxford, $35.) This sweeping history of the decades after the Civil War decries the spoliations White sees everywhere among Robber Barons and corrupt politicians. THE INTERNATIONALISTS: How a Radical Plan to Outlaw War Remade the World, by Oona A. Hathaway and Scott J. Shapiro. (Simon & Schuster, $30.) The two authors argue for the historic importance of the Kellogg-Briand Pact, an international agreement usually dismissed by historians as ineffectual and quixotic. In their revisionist view, the pact "reshaped the world map" and "catalyzed the human rights revolution." RESET: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change, by Ellen K. Pao. (Spiegel & Grau, $28.) Combining memoir, self-help, tell-all and manifesto, Pao recalls the disillusionment that led her to sue a venture capital firm for gender discrimination. She lost, but showed the hurdles women still face in many fields. THE MISFORTUNE OF MARION PALM, by Emily Culliton. (Knopf, $25.95.) In Culliton's delightful and sneakily feminist debut novel, a Brooklyn mother is on the lam after embezzling thousands of dollars from her daughters' private school. BONES: Brothers, Horses, Cartels, and the Borderland Dream, by Joe Tone. (One World, $28.) A reporter brilliantly recounts the tale of a Texas bricklayer who laundered drug money for his brother, a cartel boss in Mexico, via the horse-racing industry. The full reviews of these and other recent books are on the web: nytimes.com/books
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [July 16, 2018]
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Ornithologist Prum puts it best in his introduction to Darwin's neglected theory of sexual selection: desire and the object of that desire shape each other over evolutionary time. The task of attracting a mate and passing one's genes to the next generation is open-ended, with each species evolving its own standard of beauty, so it's no wonder that the ten-thousand species of birds evolved an almost equal number of standards. Darwin's theory also introduced the idea of female mate choice, with female preference for a particular male serving as a mechanism of evolution. The author describes the fantastic display of the male argus pheasant, with the female casting a discerning eye over his plumage and presentation. Prum goes on to discuss the elaborate dances of a tropical group of birds called manakins, the evolution of plumage color from dinosaur feathers to bird feathers, the kinky qualities of duck sex, and the ramifications of sexual selection in human sex. While Prum's inquiry is firmly based in scientific research, with notes and bibliography to match, his humor and personal anecdotes make for compelling reading.--Bent, Nancy Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Prum, a professor of ornithology at Yale, provocatively questions whether virtually all biologists have misunderstood a core concept first proposed by Charles Darwin. As Prum explains, the vast majority of evolutionary biologists consider sexual selection, in which females choose males with whom to mate, to be a type of natural selection. Male ornamentation, such as peacock tail feathers, arises as a means to advertise health and virility. Using his own research on tropical birds as a base, Prum follows Darwin in positing that such ornamentation has no such signaling value and arises instead for its aesthetic value-a value determined solely by the females of a species. Presenting persuasive supporting data while clearly articulating much about the scientific process, Prum maintains that a correct reading of sexual selection indicates that it is a potent mechanism for females to develop sexual autonomy. By controlling various aspects of male behavior through mate choice, Prum argues that females of many species have reduced the incidence of rape while increasing male sociality. He also offers hypotheses for the evolution of the female orgasm and homosexuality while embedding the concept of feminism solidly within a biological framework. Prum crosses many boundaries while provoking readers to consider Darwin's ignored idea as a new paradigm. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
In this thought-provoking exploration of sexual selection as an evolutionary force, Prum (ornithology, Yale Univ.) argues that Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection isn't the only thing driving evolution. Sexual selection is the idea that the female is responsible for more than modern-day scientists are comfortable admitting, by choosing mates based on attributes that are aesthetically pleasing rather than serving some sort of function to further the species. For example, in order to attract a mate, the male great argus pheasant builds an "arena" by clearing out sticks and leaves, waits for a female to approach, and then expands his feathers, which are covered in multicolored optical illusion spheres, and dances around. Prum argues in favor of Darwin's theory that this mating ritual, along with others, is the culmination of evolution through mate choice, that individuals have the capacity to choose mates with the ornaments they prefer. He expands this theory mostly through his ornithological studies but also casts the methodology onto humans as well, which is much easier to comprehend. Prum's prose is simple and enjoyable enough for the Darwinian-challenged to understand while based in enough scientific evidence to engage those who might disagree with the ideas presented. VERDICT An intriguing look at a forgotten-and ignored-piece of Darwinism. Casual readers and science buffs alike will surely appreciate this book. [Prepub Alert, 11/21/2016.]-Tyler Hixson, School Library Journal © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A robust defense of Charles Darwin's aesthetic theory of evolution.Prum (Ornithology/Yale Univ.), the head curator of vertebrate zoology at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, argues that natural selection is not the only evolutionary mechanism at work in nature. Beauty and desire in nature are also dynamic forces, and those features in males that females prefer in choosing mates evolve rapidly. In a nutshell, each species evolves its own standard of beauty by which it chooses mates. After a brief discussion of the early and continued opposition to Darwin's aesthetic theory, the author illustrates the role of beauty in bird mating by taking readers to Borneo to observe the rituals of the Great Argus, a species of pheasant known as "one of the most aesthetically extreme animals on the planet," and to Suriname, to see the displays of male manakins, which must meet the "very high standards" of potential female mates. In other chapters, Prum reveals the intricate machinery involved in female bowerbirds choosing their mates. Female ducks, it seems, may not have such autonomy. Readers may be in for a shock when Prum turns to duck sex, which can be violent, involving what humans would call gang rape, and the illustrations of record-setting duck penises are eye-opening. The author, who charmingly reveals his lifelong fascination with birds, does not base his argument solely on avian evolution, however. In later chapters, he explores the role of female mate choice in primate evolution, a challenging subject that he views as warranting further study. Throughout, the narrative is well-documented and wholly accessible, enriched by the author's warm personal touches. Prum writes that his goal was to present the "full, distinctive richness, complexity, and diversity of this aesthetic view of life." He absolutely succeeds, though fierce debate will continue among evolutionary biologists. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by New York Times Review
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
