Do Gentlemen Really Prefer Blondes?

Bodies, Brains, and Behavior---The Science Behind Sex, Love and Attraction

By: Jena Pincott

Narrated by: Laural Merlington

Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Cosmopolitan meets Scientific American in this entertaining and informative question-and-answer book on human attraction. Based on the latest studies in science, Do Gentlemen Really Prefer Blondes? answers more than 100 wild, weird, and very pressing questions, including:

Why do some men smell better to you than others?

Are good dancers also good in bed?

Why are more women than men bisexual?

Can your genes make you adulterous?

What can you tell about your date by looking at his or her hands?

Why aren't there more male muses?

Why do blondes seem to attract the most attention from men?

All of these questions have answers that are based in science, and author Jena Pincott explains the reasons for love and attraction, and to what extent our dating and mating lives are controlled by urges and instincts. Organized into three sections---Behaviors, Bodies, and Brains---Do Gentlemen Really Prefer Blondes? provides useful, funny, and accessible answers to these questions.

©2008 Jena Pincott (P)2008 Tantor

Good book - ridiculously annoying narrator

20 seconds into the book I found myself wanting to throw my Ipod across the room. The narrator's voice is probably the most annoying sound I've heard in a long time. She should find another line of work. It was almost distracting from the content of the book. Vocal fingernails on a chalkboard - seriously.

As far as the book goes - interesting information, most of which I'm sure we've heard at some point in time already. Nonetheless, it was enjoyable and entertaining.

Bad Title / Better Book

Bad title but pretty good book. Pincott, and her book, are smarter then her title - and you can learn some pretty good science from this slim, well-written and enjoyable volume.

very informative

Her information is in line with current scientific literature. Her voice is pleasant. I learned a lot.

From a Male Listener's Point of View

I have found this book mildly entertaining. The facts in it are interesting. I like the narration. I think the questions the author is asking are fascinating. I believe it is definitely skewed towards female readers. However, as a male listener, I have thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Evolutionary psychology on partner selection

What made the experience of listening to Do Gentlemen Really Prefer Blondes? the most enjoyable?

While it does address the question in the title (using surveys and principles of evolutionary psychology, it explains what causes so many men to prefer blondes), the book goes way beyond that. In fact, the question about the preference for blondes is only one rather small part of this book. Instead, the book uses the field of evolutionary psychology to examine what some of the factors that determine mate selection and attraction are.

More a list than a book

While the book itself was kind of cool, it felt more like a Readers Digest summary of some interesting articles on the subject. Each bit of science given a paragraph or two but lacking any real substance.

Enlightening, but not particularly scientific...

This is an entertaining overview of the basic biological sciences with regard to relationship behavior in men and women. Ms. Pincott does an excellent job of calling out her sources. Unfortunately, her use of statistics to state trends in quite lacking. In very few cases does she refer to specific percentages in the behavior studies she references (I would estimate about 20%.) In the other cases she relies upon the phrases 'significantly greater' and 'significantly less'. As such, while this is a good introduction for the non-scientist, I would not recommend this as any kind of meaningful scientific overview.

One thing which may somewhat disturb male readers is that Ms. Pincott's prose is clearly written intending a female audience. It didn't bother me particularly, but was somewhat disquieting at times.

Ms. Merlington does a clear, well timed reading, with appropriate inflections, and the audio quality is excellent.

Better Living Through Chemistry?

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Not for me. While there were some interesting facts, I didn't learn too much that was new. And while it's nice to hear references for some of the facts, I think many seem somewhat self evident. In terms of evolutionary benefits or biological underpinnings for behaviors and reactions, there were no real "ah-HAs," as much as thinking "well, yeah, that makes sense."

If you think about these kinds of things much, you've probably already thought about most of them, and your thoughts might be validated. Or maybe it will be a real eye-opener for you...?

It wasn't for me.

And I felt that for all the slow, deliberate reading, and exaggerated inflection, the voice seemed to drag on. After a while, I was starting to find the reader to be a bit of a distraction.

I can't put my finger on it, but I had a sense of listening to "girl talk" as the book went on. Like I was eavesdropping on a woman at the next table giving advice to other women on how to land a mate.

There were interesting facts and figures. There was some engaging discussion about biological drive and evolutionary advantage behind human decision making and inter-gender activities. But ultimately, I found it disappointing. Undoubtedly, for someone who has not given these aspects of human biology much thought, this could be a highly informative and thought provoking book.

The book might be interesting and entertaining for you. And it might be just what you're looking for, but it wasn't for me.

Would you ever listen to anything by Jena Pincott again?

Probably not.

What three words best describe Laural Merlington’s performance?

Sugary?

I found the inflection pressed too hard. A combination of too careful with a bit of "let me tell you this secret." After a while, that started to wear on me. And I started to feel like I was listening to an advice column for women. And I felt as though the inflection kept the reading at "climax" pitch too often. As if each sentence was the big emphasis, rather than reading at a basic line and reaching a climax thought when one was appropriate.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Oh, NO!

Any additional comments?

I don't know exactly what I expected out of this book. I guess I didn't think it would be a guide for women to find mates. While it certainly had a scientific bent - discussing the role of chemistry, through hormones, pheromones, and other chemical influences on human (and animal) behavior - and giving biological and evolutionary rationales for how we behave and choose sex partners and/or mates.

But it kept falling into the realm of an advice column, or as someone else noted, seemed like it could have been written for Cosmopolitan Magazine. While it didn't seem to profess being written for women, there seemed to be a lot of places where it came down to... "Girls, if you're looking for a mate, try this." And it is addressed to women, not an inclusive audience of women and men. The audience is addressed specifically by gender. I felt a little like I was a sneaky interloper in a "how to" book for women.

Some interesting commentary on how women and men differ on the biological and behavior levels. Different signals that might attract, repel, or otherwise communicate between the sexes, and examples of how those compare with similar modes of communication among other members of the animal kingdom.

But after a while, I started to feel like it was dragging on. The references to Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging to see what part of the brain reacted to these images, or those concepts, or this aroma all started to run together. So did the repetitive role of oxytocin (the cuddle hormone) or plasma levels of testosterone and estrogen in so many descriptions of how and why we do what we do when interacting with another person.

Much of the human behavioral pattern description was interesting. I guess for me, it just got bogged down. And then evolved into advice on how to use these biological cues and tricks to choose, attract, and hook a man. And woe to the woman who takes the advice too much to heart, treating prospective mates as biological machines, and trying to manipulate them through their, and her own chemistry.

Though, I must say, I liked how these descriptions sometimes provided possible biological, evolutionary and behavioral rationale behind some very common (conscious and/or unconscious) behaviors at a party or at a bar.

compelling

A great listen. Clever and insightful!