From Powells.com
The sex act is, admittedly, a major preoccupation for most humans. But
consider the plight of the female stick insect whose mate has been copulating
with her for ten weeks straight while all she wants is a good night's
sleep, or the male praying mantis who risks his life every time he seeks
to mate with a female mantis whose penchant for decapitation is infamous.
Frankly, sex in the animal kingdom is as wild and diverse as the animals
themselves. So, when you are a lusty Californian mouse who cannot seduce
her neighbor mouse into cheating on his old, ugly wife, or a sagebrush
cricket who has discovered some alarming teeth on his back, or a green
spoon worm who has just inhaled her husband, who do you seek for answers
to some of your more embarrassing questions? Not Dr. Ruth, or even Dan
Savage. Evolutionary biologist and award-winning journalist Olivia Judson,
in the guise of Dr. Tatiana, is the woman for the job. Familiar with every
fickle commutation an insect or mammal can think up, Dr. Tatiana can answer
everything you ever wanted to know about sex in the animal world. Disguised
as a hilarious advice column, Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation
is in fact an engrossing and educational overview of evolutionary biology.
Be prepared to be quite astonished and very amused. Georgie, Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
“Delightful . . . Easy to understand and hard to resist, its sex education at its primeaccurate, comprehensive, and hilarious.” NewsweekAn uproarious and authoritative natural history in the form of letters to and answers from the preeminent sexpert in all creation, this bestselling guidebook to sex reveals, for example, when necrophilia is acceptable, how to have a virgin birth, and when to eat your lover. It also advises on more mundane matterssuch as male pregnancy and the joys of a detachable penis.
At once entertaining and wise, Dr. Tatiana (a.k.a. Olivia Judson) fuses natural history with advice to the lovelorn, blends wit and rigor, and reassures her anxious correspondents that although the acts they describe might sound appalling and unnatural, they are all perfectly normalso long as you are not a human. In the process, she explains the science behind it all, from Darwins theory of sexual selection to why sexual reproduction exists at all. By applying human standards to the natural world, in the end she reveals the wonders of both.
An alumna of Stanford with a doctorate from Oxford, Olivia Judson is an evolutionary biologist and award-winning journalist who has published in The Economist, Nature, Science, and The Guardian. She is currently a research fellow at Imperial College in London.
Shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize
Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation is a unique guidebook to sex. It reveals, for example, when necrophilia is acceptable, and who should commit bestiality with whom. It discloses the best time to have a sex change, how to have a virgin birth, and when to eat your lover. It also advises on more mundane matterssuch as male pregnancy and the joys of a detachable penis.
Quirky, entertaining, and informative, the book comprises letters from all creatures worried about their bizarre sex lives to the wise Dr. Tatiana, the only sex columnist in creation with a prodigious knowledge of evolutionary biology. Fusing natural history with advice to the lovelorn, blending wit and rigor, she is able to reassure her anxious correspondents that although the acts they describe might sound appalling and unnatural, they are all perfectly normalso long as you are not a human. In the process, she explains the science behind it all, from Darwin's theory of sexual selection to why sexual reproduction exists in the first place, and, applying standards of the human world to the mating habits of the natural one, in the end she reveals the wonders of both.
"Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation is a thoroughly engaging and exhaustively researched account of the numerous different kinds of sexual behavior that biologists have observed in the natural world. By human standards, much of this behavior is quite kinky (my favorite is the description of blow hole sex among Amazon River dolphins). However, as Olivia Judson explains, it is quite natural within its own context."Richard Morris, author of The Evolutionists: The Struggle for Darwin's Soul
"A funny and original and blissfully original new book, which purports to be sex advice offered to the animal kingdom by a universal agony aunt called Dr. Tatiana, and amply demonstrates the sheer unyielding ruthlessness of the business of procreation . . . her science is first-rate."The Economist
"Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation is a thoroughly engaging and exhaustively researched account of the numerous different kinds of sexual behavior that biologists have observed in the natural world. By human standards, much of this behavior is quite kinky (my favorite is the description of blow hole sex among Amazon River dolphins). However, as Olivia Judson explains, it is quite natural within its own context."Richard Morris, author of The Evolutionists: The Struggle for Darwin's Soul
"Wonderfully entertaining and authoritative . . . A stimulating feast of extraordinary sexual practices."Nature
"Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation manages the improbable feat of uniting in one volume the cosmic perspective of Charles Darwin with the titillating curiosity of Dr. Ruth."Ken Ringle, The Washington Post
"Perhaps the most original advice manual ever written . . . Judson has pulled off the rarest coup: a science book that's actually fun to read."The New Republic
"Judson has written a most amusing and educative book . . . Dr. Tatiana has much to teach mere humans."San Francisco Chronicle
"Judson's witty, well-researched vignettes are a pleasure, natural history that goes down as sweet as a trashy tell-all."Outside magazine
"Long live Dr. Tatiana. Without her, what would creatures troubled by their bizarre sex lives do? . . . Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation is charming, hilarious and exhaustively researched"Miami Herald
"A compilation of sex advice for lovelorn beetles, hyenas, and stickleback fish? You hold in your hands what is obviously unique a book. And also quirky, immensely entertaining, and wonderfully informative about the evolutionary biology of sex. A great read, even for someone as biologically mundane as a human."Robert M. Sapolsky, author of A Primate's Memoir
"Human? Lucky you! You rate a delightful romp through the weird, wild world of animal sex, with a guide who really knows the, um, ins and outs. Eavesdrop as Dr. T consoles her clients, from frustrated fruit flies to lovelorn golden pottos. You think you have problems? You could be a green spoon worm who's just inhaled her husband, or a peacock ashamed of his fifth-rate feathers. Count your blessings, primate. Then read, learn, enjoy."Melvin J. Konner, author of The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit
"Who knew sex could be so much fun? But while you're laughing and gasping at the kinky courtships of the bugs and other beasts Judson 'advises,' you'll be painlessly absorbing a fascinating chunk of up-to-the-minute evolutionary biology."Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America
"Her question-and-answer format is especially engaging . . . Interesting and amusing."David Shiflett, The Wall Street Journal
"Erasmus Darwin titillated 18th century London with his poem 'The Loves of Plants.' He never new the half of it. Dr. Tatiana knows how the other half loves, and it's much kinkier than anybody imagined. Never has science seemed more like daytime television."Matt Ridley, author of The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature
"Move over, Ruth Westheimer and Joyce Brothers. Dr. Tatiana's sex advice isn't limited to the human lovelorn . . .While the presentation is parodistic, the information Judson provides is a rigorous overview of the reasons different animals mate as they do and how their sex acts figure into the evolutionary process."Science News
"More positions than the Kama Sutrabut don't try this at home!"Steve Jones, author of The Language of Genes: Solving the Mysteries of Our Genetic Past, Present and Future
"Witty, racy, informed, entertaining, and instructive . . . Judson is a gifted writer, and her book helps further understanding."Science
"A saucy treat . . . Tatiana's message is one of being open to all the won
Review
“Darwin titillated 18th-century London with his poem ‘The Loves of Plants. He never knew the half of it. Dr. Tatiana knows how the other half loves, and its much kinkier than anybody imagined. Never has science seemed more like daytime TV.” Matt Ridley, author of
The Red Queen “Perhaps the most original advice manual ever written . . . Judson has pulled off the rarest coup: a science book thats actually fun to read.” The New Republic
“Funny and blissfully original . . . Dr. Tatianas science is first-rate.” The Economist
“Whimsical, irreverent and illuminating . . . A most amusing and educative book on animal sex.” San Francisco Chronicle
“Judsons witty, well-researched vignettes are a guilty pleasure, natural history that goes down as sweet as a trashy tell-all.” Outside
“Captivating . . . An evolutionary biologist with interesting and amusing things to tell us. The Wall Street Journal
“Wonderfully entertaining and authoritative . . . A stimulating feast of extraordinary sexual practices.” Nature
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Review
“Darwin titillated 18th-century London with his poem ‘The Loves of Plants. He never knew the half of it. Dr. Tatiana knows how the other half loves, and its much kinkier than anybody imagined. Never has science seemed more like daytime TV.” —Matt Ridley, author of
The Red Queen “Perhaps the most original advice manual ever written . . . Judson has pulled off the rarest coup: a science book thats actually fun to read.” —The New Republic
“Funny and blissfully original . . . Dr. Tatianas science is first-rate.” —The Economist
“Whimsical, irreverent and illuminating . . . A most amusing and educative book on animal sex.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“Judsons witty, well-researched vignettes are a guilty pleasure, natural history that goes down as sweet as a trashy tell-all.” —Outside
“Captivating . . . An evolutionary biologist with interesting and amusing things to tell us. —The Wall Street Journal
“Wonderfully entertaining and authoritative . . . A stimulating feast of extraordinary sexual practices.” —Nature
Synopsis
From Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation:
Dear Dr. Tatiana, I'm a European praying mantis, and I've noticed I enjoy sex more if I bite my lovers' heads off first. Somehow they then seem less inhibited, more urgent it's fabulous. Do you find this too?
I Like 'Em Headless in Lisbon
Some of my best friends are man-eaters, but between you and me, cannibalism isn't my bag. I can see why you like it, though. Males of your species are boring lovers. Beheading them works wonders: whereas a headless chicken rushes wildly about, a headless mantis thrashes in a sexual frenzy. Why can't he be that way when he's whole?
Synopsis
A sex guide for all living things and a hilarious natural history in the form of letters to and answers from the preeminent sexpert in all creation.
Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation is a unique guidebook to sex. It reveals, for example, when necrophilia is acceptable and who should commit bestiality with whom. It discloses the best time to have a sex change, how to have a virgin birth, and when to eat your lover. It also advises on more mundane matters -- such as male pregnancy and the joys of a detachable penis.
Entertaining, funny, and marvelously illuminating, the book comprises letters from all creatures worried about their bizarre sex lives to the wise Dr. Tatiana (a.k.a. Olivia Judson), the only sex columnist in creation with a prodigious knowledge of evolutionary biology. Fusing natural history with advice to the lovelorn, blending wit and rigor, she is able to reassure her anxious correspondents that although the acts they describe might sound appalling and unnatural, they are all perfectly normal -- so long as you are not a human. In the process, she explains the science behind it all, from Darwin's theory of sexual selection to why sexual reproduction exists at all. Applying human standards to the natural world, in the end she reveals the wonders of both.
"Delightful . . . Easy to understand and hard to resist, it's sex education at its prime -- accurate, comprehensive, and hilarious." -- Newsweek
Synopsis
"Delightful . . . Easy to understand and hard to resist, it's sex education at its prime-accurate, comprehensive, and hilarious." -
Newsweek An uproarious and authoritative natural history in the form of letters to and answers from the preeminent sexpert in all creation, this bestselling guidebook to sex reveals, for example, when necrophilia is acceptable, how to have a virgin birth, and when to eat your lover. It also advises on more mundane matters-such as male pregnancy and the joys of a detachable penis. At once entertaining and wise, Dr. Tatiana (a.k.a. Olivia Judson) fuses natural history with advice to the lovelorn, blends wit and rigor, and reassures her anxious correspondents that although the acts they describe might sound appalling and unnatural, they are all perfectly normal-so long as you are not a human. In the process, she explains the science behind it all, from Darwin's theory of sexual selection to why sexual reproduction exists at all. By applying human standards to the natural world, in the end she reveals the wonders of both.
Synopsis
“Delightful . . . Easy to understand and hard to resist, its sex education at its prime—accurate, comprehensive, and hilarious.” —NewsweekAn uproarious and authoritative natural history in the form of letters to and answers from the preeminent sexpert in all creation, this bestselling guidebook to sex reveals, for example, when necrophilia is acceptable, how to have a virgin birth, and when to eat your lover. It also advises on more mundane matters—such as male pregnancy and the joys of a detachable penis.
At once entertaining and wise, Dr. Tatiana (a.k.a. Olivia Judson) fuses natural history with advice to the lovelorn, blends wit and rigor, and reassures her anxious correspondents that although the acts they describe might sound appalling and unnatural, they are all perfectly normal—so long as you are not a human. In the process, she explains the science behind it all, from Darwins theory of sexual selection to why sexual reproduction exists at all. By applying human standards to the natural world, in the end she reveals the wonders of both.
About the Author
With a bachelor of science from Stanford and a doctorate from Oxford,
Olivia Judson is an evolutionary biologist and award-winning science journalist who has been published in
The Economist, Nature, Science, and
The Guardian, among other publications. She is currently a research fellow at Imperial College in London.