Bonk

published	June 5th 2008 by Canongate Books Ltd
binding	Paperback
isbn	1847672264 (isbn13: 9781847672261)
ebook
description	Few things are as fundamental to human happiness than satisfying sex. Yet the funding for research, always elusive, has dwindled sharply. Bonk is both...more [close] Few things are as fundamental to human happiness than satisfying sex. Yet the funding for research, always elusive, has dwindled sharply. Bonk is both an ode to a fascinating and vital pursuit and a reminder that there is still much to learn. Sexual arousal and orgasm are two of the most complex, delightful, utterly amazing scientific phenomena on earth. [close]
date added	10-03-07 edit book

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Lori rated it:

06/26/08

bookshelves: non-fiction

Read in June, 2008

(Review starts with a recent blog post, written mid-book, then my conclusion)

Well, maybe it is, just a little bit.

As I've often stated here, I read very little non-fiction. Too dry, too dull, too fact-intensive. Just too. A couple of months ago, I read Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. Roach's good-natured obsession with researching anything and everything that interests her is infectious. Plus, I'm fairly morbid, so the topic appealed to me. Seriously, I can watc...more

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jess rated it:

(review of isbn 0393064646)

07/24/08

Read in July, 2008

i audiobook'd this, the third feature-length scientific expedition of mary roach. i love! love! love! mary roach. i have bought multiple copies of her first book, stiff, and have managed to permanently "lend" every one of them out. audiobooking the curious couplings of science and sex, however, was a very strange experience. picture this: i am walking around downtown pittsburgh, just like every morning, and there are strangers passing me left and right with serious or sleepy looks, bri...more i audiobook'd this, the third feature-length scientific expedition of mary roach. i love! love! love! mary roach. i have bought multiple copies of her first book, stiff, and have managed to permanently "lend" every one of them out. audiobooking the curious couplings of science and sex, however, was a very strange experience. picture this: i am walking around downtown pittsburgh, just like every morning, and there are strangers passing me left and right with serious or sleepy looks, briefcases and plastic bags, and i am listening to a chapter on Lady Boners. i'm stuck in traffic, the way i most despise spending my time, and learning about the erotic rituals of artificial insemination of pigs in norway. very! strange!

if you're looking for a forthright and humorous scientific break-down of erotic encounters, the clit, the g-spot, the erection.... well, this may not be the book for you. roach focuses her special, special attentions on the sex researchers that have changed the landscapes of our bodies and our bedrooms. quick, tell me, which sexologist used his research as an outlet for his attraction to men? whatever happened to the dildo cams constructed decades ago for sex research of vaginal arousal? what do you know about the discovery of the g-spot? have you ever read a graphic description of the surgeries performed to provide erections for men with erectile dysfunction? what do you know about the distance between the clitoris and the vaginal opening, and the orgasmic capacity therein? interested to find out which sex researchers had to perform their studies under the cover of nightfall? read BONK.

roach explores the ways that funding moves (or not) through research facilities, the stigma and social implications of being involved in sex research, and the feelings of grown-up children of researchers. we visit the institutions that are supportive and not. roach pieces together the changing times and cultural notions of sex, and how our perception of sex restricts or facilitates collection of data and ability to publish. she produces a clear picture of the historical variance in our cultural acceptance of sex research. basically, the book is a lot of the grimy politicking that happens when people are jostling for funds and the neighbors might not approve of your research. it's an entertaining ride through the scientific research industry. along the way, i learned that sex researchers are both flawed and fascinating, and have both the purest and most dubious intentions and methods. and some of them actually seem likable (cindy mestin, for example!)

of course, we learn the most from the exceptional cases, and roach brings enough material from the margins to make your head (or sphincter) spin. i appreciated her examinations of the roles that prostitutes played, especially in the early days of sex research. i loved the tales of wild sexual encounters in a rented attic for the sake of science. i loved that mary roach talked her husband into having sex with her in a lab for the sake of science. i am not sure that i could talk my spouse into that, even for the sake of science. i was enthralled by the last chapter's mention of the scientific proof of better sex between gay couples than straight couples. i'm biased, i guess, but i agree....less

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Alex rated it:

(review of isbn 0393064646)

07/26/08

bookshelves: books-of-2008

Read in April, 2008

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach: We are now eight years into the twenty-first century and the world has made many great strides in areas like medicine, anthropology, sociology, politics, and increasing our knowledge and respect for our planet and the many different peoples who live on it. And yet the United States is still a country that views sex as an act to be hidden behind closed doors, performed infrequently (preferably for the purpose of reproduction), and as qu...more Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach: We are now eight years into the twenty-first century and the world has made many great strides in areas like medicine, anthropology, sociology, politics, and increasing our knowledge and respect for our planet and the many different peoples who live on it. And yet the United States is still a country that views sex as an act to be hidden behind closed doors, performed infrequently (preferably for the purpose of reproduction), and as quick and easily dispensed with.

In the May issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine, 'a survey of sex therapists concluded the optimal amount of time for sexual intercourse was 3 to 13 minutes'. Now Mary Roach, author of the bestselling Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers and Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, has turned her scientific mind to an act that can only be performed in specific ways according to laws in certain U.S. states.

The empirical study of sexual intercourse has certainly come a long way since humanity began having problems with performing the act, and Roach does a fantastic job of showing just how much work and research has been performed in the name of science on the subject of sex. While the author does go back to the days of ancient Greece, Bonk is not arranged chronologically, but rather by subjects ranging from human sexual response; to how the shape, size and placement of the sexual organs can vary from person to person and how this affects people having sex; to sex toys and devices; to what exactly is going on biologically during an orgasm.

Roach continues as she did with Stiff to turn off readers as she goes into detail on what takes place during penis surgery, having seen it performed before her very eyes; as well as revealing the scientific fact that because an orgasm is essentially a reflexive response to specific stimuli over time, a dead body would be able to have one. Roach makes a giant leap for humankind into the world of sexual study in volunteering herself and her husband to be studied scientifically while performing intercourse.

Just as in the author's other books, Bonk is an eye-opener for readers, no matter their background; after absorbing it cover to cover one feels educated enough to make diagnoses for those experiencing sexual dysfunction. But then this may be one of the reasons Roach wrote this book: for those too ashamed to seek clinical help. She makes her point clear: that sex isn't something to be hidden especially when problems affect people's everyday lives. There's a group to help everyone - even a special one for the disabled who are unable to have sex in ordinary ways - and offer advice and help in maintaining a healthy sexual relationship.

After finishing Bonk, one can see how this subject has been taboo for so long, and this continues to be the case with the current U.S. administration being a major advocate of abstinence over contraceptives. But at the same time it is clear that many people over the years have devoted their lives to the scientific study of sex, and here we see a different world of those who want to help and educate others. Ultimately, whatever goes on between consenting human beings behind closed doors is their business, but is there any reason why it shouldn't be enjoyable?

For more reviews, and writings, or to buy yourself a copy, please visit www.alexctelander.com....less

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Sarah rated it:

04/29/08

bookshelves: fancypants

Read in April, 2008

okay i didn't REALLY read the *entire* thing. But I read like 85% of it and skimmed the rest. And for the most part it was pretty hilarious. I had some problems with it thought. I felt like I spent the whole book waiting for her get to the point about people having different kinds of sex. The book, supposedly, is about sex. But it's never really clear how she defines sex. She (and scientists) seem to be working mostly from a sex-as-intercourse assumption. This was most clearly illustrated when s...more okay i didn't REALLY read the *entire* thing. But I read like 85% of it and skimmed the rest. And for the most part it was pretty hilarious. I had some problems with it thought. I felt like I spent the whole book waiting for her get to the point about people having different kinds of sex. The book, supposedly, is about sex. But it's never really clear how she defines sex. She (and scientists) seem to be working mostly from a sex-as-intercourse assumption. This was most clearly illustrated when she and her husband volunteered to have sex in a lab so scientists could take an MRI of it. But then when she described it, it really didn't sound like what i think of as sex at all. I don't want to project feelings on to her too much, but it didn't sound like she was involved or turned on by it at all. It didn't sound like two people having sex. The way she described it, it sounded like she could have been a doll that her husband was having intercourse with. Orgasm was certainly never mentioned in that scenario.

Point being, she spend a lot of time talking about the mechanics of sex, but what IS sex exactly? There are so many different kinds, and she really only talks about intercourse and the orgasms that come therefrom. At the very tiny little squeak of an end she mentions queer sex (or "homosexual," as she very clinically puts it), but only as an aside to illustrate that Masters & Johnson found that queer people have better sex than straight people. But does she go on to say anything more about queer people or queer sex? No no. Instead she talks about the implications of this tidbit for straight people. You can practically hear the underlying "we" when she talks about how far "heterosexuals have come" (no pun?). No mention of any of the implications for queer people. There's so much othering going on I almost can't keep track of it all.

It is shocking to me that a book that purports to be about sex has such a severely limited definition of what sex entails. When I got to the chapter about implants and sexual modification I thought that surely, finally, there would be a mention of queer people, at the very least of people who have undergone gender reassignment surgery. NOTHING! It's appalling. The book is funny and entertaining, but for a book that claims to be about sex, it is heterosexist and cisgenderist (is that even a word?) in the extreme. Not even just heterosexist, interesting-sex-ist (e.g No discussion of all the different ways for just straight ppl to have sex other than intercourse). Disappointing....less

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Ginnie rated it:

(review of isbn 0393064646)

05/25/08

bookshelves: psychology, science

Roach is not like other science writers. She doesn't write about genes or black holes or Schrödinger's cat. Instead, she ventures out to the fringes of science, where the oddballs ponder how cadavers decay (in her debut, Stiff) and whether you can weigh a person's soul (in Spook). Now she explores the sexiest subject of all: sex, and such questions as, what is an orgasm? How is it possible for paraplegics to have them? What does woman want, and can a man give it to her if her clit...more

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Geoff rated it:

(review of isbn 0393064646)

06/20/08

Read in June, 2008

recommends it for: Only Hardcore Reserach Nuts

I really wanted to like Bonk. Mary Roach seems joyous in her celebration of the science of sex. It's clear she's spent (and thoroughly enjoyed) her time researching the subject, unfortunately the book never really comes together. Mary Roach's 'signature wit' comes of more as juvenile as she seems lost in her perspective on her subject. Is Bonk a personal essay about her journey through the world of sex research? A portrait of the history of sex and the science surrounding it? Roach never settle...more

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Lynn rated it:

(review of isbn 0393064646)

05/25/08

First of all, I love Mary Roach. I've read Stiff and Spook (liked Stiff the best of all three, though some of the questions/stories from Spook keep floating around in my mind), so when I was stranded in the Dayton, Ohio, airport for 5 hours and saw this in the bookstore, I picked it up. I saw it as a sign that I didn't HAVE to spend the next three hours in the airport bar talking to strangers... Which, turns out, I did anyway. But back to the book.

She says in the preface that she tried to ...more

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Felicity rated it:

(review of isbn 0393064646)

08/10/08

Read in August, 2008

Don't get too excited...this book is about sex, but its focus is the scientific realm. In that vein, it is full of interesting scientific facts. I confess, for example, that I did not realize the full extent of the research undertaken by the Masters & Johnson studies (people will have have sex with complete strangers of the same sex if given the opportunity). But it's also full of less interesting stuff too...though Roach astutely observes that scientists are (or were) perhaps going about...more

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Don rated it:

(review of isbn 0393064646)

06/02/08

If you're interested in sex - and I do know people who claim not to be, so don't laugh - and you have a healthy curiosity, or a sense of humor, or both, you'll definitely enjoy this book. Roach writes very much the way I think, with long, digressive footnotes and frequent humorous asides, so maybe I like her writing better than I ought, but this wide-ranging survey of human sex research surely has something for almost everyone.

Unless you're an expert on everything there's bound to be somethi...more

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Alexis rated it:

(review of isbn 0393064646)

07/02/08

Read in July, 2008

i want mary roach to be my friend. here's what sealed the deal:
"Likewise, we are going to ignore the erectile tissue in the lining of the nose - which does, very occasionally, expand when its owner is sexually aroused. It too is made erect by increased blood flow. Nasal congestion is an erection inside your nose."
can't you just hear her giddy smile while writing that?

overall roach's research bent is more hetero than i would have liked. another reviewer on here said she wanted...more

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B rated it:

(review of isbn 0393064646)

08/14/08

Read in August, 2008

recommended to B by: Mal

Having read Mary Roach's other books Stiff and Spook, Bonk was a pleasant new subject to have science tackle. Plus, it's just fun to say. Bonk bonk bonk.

Stiff is still my favorite. I'm not certain what that says of me, preferring the subject of cadavers over sex, but let's not dwell on that too much, shall we?

I certainly learned quite a bit about penises having read bonk. My gracious! I liked penises before this book; I've always thought they were pretty neat, but now? Now! Well...more

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Katie rated it:

(review of isbn 0393064646)

05/23/08

Read in May, 2008

Sex, sex, sexity, sex, sex, sex! Bonk is hilarious and informative as it explores all types of sex research from a scientific perspective. The studies referenced include a variety of humans, animals, and mechanical devices. The reader gets an inside look at many diverse topics, from the artificial insemination of pigs, to masturbatory techniques, to sex following a spinal cord injury. Roach's style, as seen in her other books, is blunt and honest, sparing no one, including herself and her h...more

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Jane rated it:

(review of isbn 0393064646)

06/06/08

Read in June, 2008

recommends it for: Adults only please

Mary Roach really comes through for her readers! I enjoyed this book as much as, if not more than "Stiff". I picked this book up and just couldn't put it down, completing it in one day. Her book delves into the taboo subject of sex. While you might think this is a book for perverts or people seeking help to "get in the mood" it simply isn't. Mary takes a scientific dive into the subject by examining the history of the subject as well as current research. She sprinkles in...more

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Ryan rated it:

(review of isbn 0393064646)

06/15/08

Read in June, 2008

recommends it for: Mary Roach fans.

This book, it turns out, was not so much about sex as about sexology, the study of sex. And, while I love Mary Roach as an author (I firmly believe her writing would be interesting no matter what the subject matter), the actual nitty gritty of studying sex is less interesting than I had anticipated. (For a briefer view at the style and attraction of her writing, I suggest going through and reading just all of the footnotes. Often unrelated to the body of the text, they are some of the most fun a...more

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Turi rated it:

(review of isbn 0393064646)

04/24/08

Read in April, 2008

It's a common list to keep: your ideal dinner party guest list. Trying to balance who would work together conversationally, thematically. Seems like all my invitees would be authors - Bill Bryson, Neil Gaiman - and Mary Roach. I can't imagine a group that here sense of humor and take on life wouldn't fit into. Not one that I'd like to attend, anyway.

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex is Roach's latest book, and continues kind of a theme. Her first book was Stiff: The Curious Lives...more

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Tara rated it:

(review of isbn 0393064646)

05/05/08

bookshelves: fromthelibrary, nonfiction

Read in May, 2008

Following her success with Stiff and Spook, Mary Roach continues her success with Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex. Far and away funnier than I anticipated, this titillating foray into sexual research, diagnosis and treatment is not for the squeamish or faint of heart. It is, however, a rare book indeed that can convey scholarly and incredibly thorough research in a hip and hilarious manner that is both factual and fascinating.

In one of my favorite passages...more

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Chantel rated it:

08/04/08

bookshelves: nonfiction, sex

Read in July, 2008

I would really like to give this book three and a half stars.

I liked it. I really did. I appreciate Mary Roach's humor, the fact that she is not afraid to make a joke. I laughed out loud more than once while reading this book. It was good. But some of her jokes were really junior high, like, "Tee Hee everyone, I'm writing about sex." I want her to be funny, but not juvenile.

Yes, the subject matter in this book is heterocentric. I don't know if that is a choice the author made...more

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Russ rated it:

(review of isbn 0393064646)

07/20/08

Read in July, 2008

This was a really fun read. Mary Roach managed to walk the razor-thin line between dumbing down science to the point of pointlessness and making the subject matter too opaque for the casual reader. I never felt the tone to be condescending, yet the book still had the lovely airy feeling that I want for a quick summer read. Roach's humor is the force that really elevates the book. Not only are the humorous touches entertaining in their own right, but they serve to dispel the shackles of modesty, ...more

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Jeremy rated it:

(review of isbn 0393064646)

05/21/08

Read in May, 2008

If you enjoyed Mary Roach's book Stiff, you'll love this one. Stiff was a funny and enlightening look at our bodies and death. In "Bonk," Roach takes a look at science and sex. I must say I learned a lot after reading this book. Remember, this is science. So, if you're a raging pervert (or a calm pervert) you probably will not enjoy this read. Sorry, pervs, no pictures. Her writing is so funny, though, that you hardly realize you're reading what is mostly a look at various scientific s...more

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Sarah Montambo rated it:

(review of isbn 142331669X)

04/01/08

bookshelves: nonfiction, sexy-as-hell

Read in April, 2008

Who are these people who let themselves get strapped up to sex machines with cameras inside them and wires attached to their nipples? Anyone? Admit it!!

I still like Roach's style, but I wanted her to go deeper (oh my god, I didn't intend that double entendre, there).

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avg rating (this edition): 3.83 (128 ratings)
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