It's Not You, It's Biology.: The Science of Love, Sex, and Relationships - Softcover

Joe Quirk in his own words: I studied literature and minored in Development of Western Civilization at Providence College, taught partially by Dominican priests who had no sense of humor when it came to my biological observations about celibacy. I graduated at the top of the bottom tenth of my class. I attended one year of law school, so I only lost one third of my soul, which is just enough to function in American society. I invested the last seven years of my novel royalties in reading evolutionary biology studies, full-time. Now finally I feel ready to ask a woman on a date.”

Joe lives in Berkeley, California, where he prays intellectuals won't ask him for his credentials. Please visit him at www.joequirk.com.

Wild Kingdom meets Dr. Ruth in Quirk's bawdy guide to species reproduction and the differences between men and women. Each topical chapter compares romantic relationships to sociological, biological, anthropological or zoological findings, all related in Quirk's off-the-cuff prose. The easy reading can be attributed to the fact that Quirk isn't a scientist, but a fiction writer with an interest in science and a knack for finding humor in explaining why people act the way they do. Chapter titles like "Why You're So Horny" and "Why You Like Spielberg more than T.S. Eliot" set the tone for Quirk's revelations on the purpose of body hair ("It's to stink ... Now we know why the French are so sexy"); promiscuity in the animal kingdom ("the faithful sex looks drab, and the slutty sex looks fab"); and art ("I look at Michelangelo's ceiling, and I see a gay man's erotic fantasies"). Men, Quirk writes, are "sperm spreaders" bent on spraying their worthless sperm as frequently and widely as possible, while women are "womb carriers" competing against one another to land the best sperm to fertilize a precious egg. Granted, Quirk's book is far from breaking new scientific ground, but his humorous touch (not to mention the chapter on penguin prostitution) make for a readable and off-beat treatise.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.