Few authors combine fascinating information with so much drivel as Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg do in Why Do Men Fall Asleep After Sex? (2006, Three Rivers Press, New York, 263 pages).
Intended to be amusing and informative, this book carries a wordy subtitle: More Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Whiskey Sour. Much of the format, the best part, poses curious medical questions and then answers them.
This sequel follows a similar 2005 bestseller, Why Do Men Have Nipples?. As the authors explain, “It feels a bit different this time. When we were writing Why Do Men Have Nipples?, we had no idea that anyone (other than our editor, wives, moms and dads) would read the book. Shows what we know.
“Our little nipples book has sold more than a million copies internationally.... But a funny thing happened along the way. We quickly became aware of the fact that we'd barely scratched the surface. As we talked to people who'd enjoyed our first book, we began accumulating hundreds of new questions – some funny, down-to-earth, exotic, some embarrassing, some perplexing, but always thought-provoking enough that we knew we'd have to include them in a brand-new volume.”
What about the title query? “When we told Billy's wife's grandmother the name of our new book, she answered in a second, ‘Because they work so damn hard!’ ”
The full answer turns a little more complex. “There are many hormonal changes that occur with orgasm and some of these changes may offer an explanation for why men fall asleep.... Also (believe it or not) women don't always have an orgasm, and that keeps them from producing all those other hormones.”
Consider another big issue: why do women live longer than men? “Women are helped by the need to live long enough to raise their children while men wear themselves out competing for the right to procreate.... Around the time of puberty through the 20s, men are three times more likely to die than women. Most of the male fatalities are caused by reckless behavior or violence. In the older age group, behavior-related fatalities are still more common among men. Illnesses related to smoking and alcohol consumption also kill more men than women. Lastly there are some strong biological factors that favor women. Heart disease targets men more readily....”
Among the other questions:
-- Does peeing in the shower cure athlete's foot?
-- Can you breastfeed with fake boobs?
-- Will a watermelon bush grow in your belly if you swallow a watermelon seed?
-- Are bulls really attracted to the color red?
-- Is it true that cockroaches can survive an atomic blast?
-- Why don't people taking nitroglycerin for their hearts explode?
-- Why do feet smell?
-- Are there more violent crimes when the moon is full?
Not every question receives a full answer. Some get juggled and others fumbled. But the underlying medical research looks valid, and readers should learn something from each response.
A full volume of Q-and-A would have made a worthy project. Sadly, too much else in this book lacks merit. Leyner and Goldberg waste too many pages on reprinting daft instant messages they supposedly exchanged while working. These add nothing and diminish the valid content. Including such space-filler makes the book look hastily prepared, even nonsensical.
Together, the authors achieve certain symmetry: Leyner's an actual writer and Goldberg a real doctor. Leyner wrote earlier books, including Et Tu, Babe; Tooth Imprints on a Corn Dog; and I Smell Esther Williams. Goldberg has worked at New York's Bellevue Hospital and NYU Medical Centre. When not busy at medicine, he's an artist.
For a book neatly split between enlightening details and total bosh, only one approval rating fits.
Approval rating: 50 per cent.
For more information: www.crownpublishing.com
(November 24, 2009)
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