A fascinating dopamine-release

The book I wanted to write. Sara has researched topics that are fundamental to the human race and conveyed it in a comical and no-nonsense way.

Intelligence + humour = Sara Pascoe

It's like indulgently falling in to the pages of a secret diary, interspersed with an interesting text book.

Keep on exploring the world and talking about these important topics, mating, periods and all! ☺️

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27 people found this helpful

clever great wonderful important book

What did you like most about Animal?

Its honesty, clear, well researched and reasoned. It was thoughtful and invites discussion. Such vital stuff for so many men and women: human animals.

It was also very funny and I had to rewind bits because I was laughing out loud

What did you like best about this story?

Some of the science and ideas were new to me and i loved that. Its wonderful and sad that this book wasn't around when I was 12
She walked the tightrope of discussing emotive and vital topics, in an intelligent and open way. Which is SO hard to do when the topics are SO important. And actually made them funny with out removing the seriousness, which is impressive

Which scene did you most enjoy?

Her teenage experiences/ experiences as a woman, and all the science stuff.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes and pretty much did.

Any additional comments?

Thanks for writing this book Sara! if you are listening and read the comments

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20 people found this helpful

Everyone should read this book.

Especially people who say 'not all men'.
Funny, passionate & great writing.
Pascoe provides a really unique, insightful and researched perspective on love, bodies, relationships and much more.

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1 person found this helpful

Mythbusting the evolutionary origins of sexuality

Entertaining and nicely balanced mixture of personal and researched. Very accessible overview of biological sexuality, focusing mainly on heterosexual and female perspective; addressing popular misconceptions and outlining science-based theories of how sexual function and behaviour may have evolved, and how hormones affect our thoughts and feelings. Takes a critical look at how patriarchy in society has shaped attitudes towards sex, relationships and women.

As a comedian, the author is a skilled narrator, and the humour acts to frame the serious, making this book primarily an easy and enjoyable listen, with some harder topics (rape) treated in a sensitive way. As a writer with academic background in humanities - not biology - her voice is one of heartfelt and curious exploration, and she takes an analytical approach to tackling her own preconceptions and biases. A thought-provoking, great read for young adults, and even for older adults like myself. Having had an interest in popular science articles on these issues, many of the ideas were familiar to me, but I still found a good few surprises and delights in this perspective.

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1 person found this helpful

What a book

This was educational, hilarious and really touching. Thank you for such a brilliant read. I loved the reading, and the messages in the book.

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1 person found this helpful

informative yet funny.

as one of my first audible books. I have now got the bug to get more. I wasn't sure if I would enjoy to begin with but as I kept listen I found it hard to switch off. interesting, honest, informative, eye opening yet witty and lol, great listen.

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WOW!!!... EYES OPENED!!

This Is a truly remarkable book. The whole of humanity would benefit from reading / listening

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Brilliant

Although I'm already knowledgable about most of these subjects, I loved the personal viewpoints, the funny interjections and how the author balanced these with well researched academic and scientific arguments. I'd recommend to young women particularly but also men and women of all ages. I'm going to be giving this book to lots of people who I care about.
Sara also reads it with personality and depth, which in a rare case, in my experience, makes this audiobook more enjoyable than the printed version.

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Excellent!!!!

A breath of fresh air, beautifully addresses key gender issues as well as looking at some incredible science! So many things I didn't know about my own body! Thank you!

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Not always an easy listen, but worth the effort

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Definitely.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Animal?

The honest and frank disclosures and descriptions of events most people would never talk about, done for the greater good and they really made me think.

Also, I never before realised how much 2.5cm can make such a huge difference and after more than 50 years find myself reassured that I'm actually normal! Who knew!

What does Sara Pascoe bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

There were many, many occasions in this book that made me think, often for the first time about how I actually feel about the subjects covered. I learned quite a lot and embarrassingly quite a few of the things I learned were because I had NEVER really considered it before. Very stimulating book.

Any additional comments?

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book, as I often do, I chose it as a "get one free" or similar deal as I like to try different authors/subjects etc.

So when this began I thought it was going to be a witty autobiography and although it does include autobiographical stories, it isn't an autobiography - I should perhaps have read the blub better..!!

However, Sara has a very easy way of writing & speaking that draws you in and to begin with I found myself easily agreeing with her views on the media's influence on how with think about ourselves, but very quickly I found myself thinking "Hmm, I hadn't thought of it like that.." more and more often. In fact quite a lot of subject matters covered made me think, sometimes for the first time about all sorts of subjects.

I really admire her for writing this book and hope that lots and lots of people (women AND men) read/listen to this.

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