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Title details for Gross Anatomy by Mara Altman - Available

Gross Anatomy

Dispatches from the Front (and Back)

by Mara Altman
Mara Altman
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
An honest, funny, neurotic, and totally gross love child of Mindy Kaling and Mary Roach.
Mara Altman's volatile and apprehensive relationship with her body has led her to wonder about a lot of stuff over the years. Like, who decided that women shouldn't have body hair? And how sweaty is too sweaty? Also, why is breast cleavage sexy but camel toe revolting? Isn't it all just cleavage? These questions and others like them have led to the comforting and sometimes smelly revelations that constitute Gross Anatomy, an essay collection about what it's like to operate the bags of meat we call our bodies.
Divided into two sections, "The Top Half" and "The Bottom Half," with cartoons scattered throughout, Altman's book takes the reader on a wild and relatable journey from head to toe—as she attempts to strike up a peace accord with our grody bits.
With a combination of personal anecdotes and fascinating research, Gross Anatomy holds up a magnifying glass to our beliefs, practices, biases, and body parts and shows us the naked truth: that there is greatness in our grossness.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 21, 2018

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780525590972
      • File size: 267622 KB
      • Duration: 09:17:32

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Finally, a hilarious, body-positive look at and inside the female body! With fearlessness and charm, Mara Altman narrates her personal journey of biological exploration, which answers questions many listeners want to know but may be way too uncomfortable to ask without anonymity. Altman's voice is slightly nasal and is pitched high, lending a youthful exuberance to her storytelling. Like a best friend, she is honest and thorough as she details what she's learned about public and private parts, literally warts and all. Take note, her honesty includes well-placed profanity that is delivered with aplomb. Unfortunately, for many, biology is further complicated by social expectations and norms, causing undue anxiety and self-judgment. Fortunately for listeners, Altman's pointed reckoning with this reality offers humor, insight, and greater acceptance. A.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 7, 2018
      Altman (Thanks for Coming) boldly explores parts of her body that are both a source of shame and wonder in this delightfully crass collection of essays. From nipple hair to hemorrhoids, from the evolution of mammalian sex noises to why dogs are frequently drawn to “vag scent,” nothing is off-limits in Altman’s line of interrogation. She manages to keep readers engaged by polishing her bodily exposition with journalistic details, pausing her narrative for interviews with experts on every subject at hand. In one essay, on “copulatory vocalizations,” she consults an evolutionary biologist, two psychologists, a neuroscientist, and an anthropologist. “Maybe if you aren’t busy hollering during sex, you have the space in your brain to develop advanced sensory sensitivity in your vagina,” she posits after a conversation with the neuroscientist. It is this level of research coupled with her unique shade of humor that sets her series of essays apart. Agent: Erin Hosier, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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