Sex at Dawn

How We Mate, Why We Stray, and What It Means for Modern Relationships

By: Christopher Ryan, Cacilda Jetha

Narrated by: Allyson Johnson, Jonathan Davis, Christopher Ryan (Preface)

Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

Earphones Award Winner (AudioFile Magazine)

Since Darwin's day, we've been told that sexual monogamy comes naturally to our species. Mainstream science - as well as religious and cultural institutions - has maintained that men and women evolved in families in which a man's possessions and protection were exchanged for a woman's fertility and fidelity. But this narrative is collapsing. Fewer and fewer couples are getting married, and divorce rates keep climbing as adultery and flagging libido drag down even seemingly solid marriages.

How can reality be reconciled with the accepted narrative? It can't be, according to renegade thinkers Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jetha. While debunking almost everything we "know" about sex, they offer a bold alternative explanation in this provocative and brilliant book.

Ryan and Jetha's central contention is that human beings evolved in egalitarian groups that shared food, child care, and, often, sexual partners. Weaving together convergent, frequently overlooked evidence from anthropology, archaeology, primatology, anatomy, and psychosexuality, the authors show how far from human nature monogamy really is. Human beings everywhere and in every era have confronted the same familiar, intimate situations in surprisingly different ways. The authors expose the ancient roots of human sexuality while pointing toward a more optimistic future illuminated by our innate capacities for love, cooperation, and generosity.

BONUS AUDIO: Includes a Preface written and read by author Christopher Ryan.

©2010 Christopher Ryan, Cacilda Jetha (P)2010 Audible, Inc

Critic reviews

"A surprisingly non-titillating book about sex among prehistoric people makes for a terrific audio adaptation...With their straightforward approach, the narrators show professionalism and authority in this anthropological discussion of sex." ( AudioFile)

“ Sex at Dawn is the single most important book about human sexuality since Alfred Kinsey unleashed Sexual Behavior in the Human Male on the American public in 1948.” (Dan Savage)

"My favorite book of 2010...it's the only book I read this year that proved that I was badly mistaken about something." (Peter Sagal, host of NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!)

Now this explains my life...

What did you love best about Sex at Dawn?

During my life many times I have felt that I was from another planet, or age. Nevertheless, the findings presented in this book truly show the core of our human biology and spirit. We are basically the same species we were a quarter million years ago. While most of our religions are only a few thousands years old. So, we can say that in the latest 5% of our existence in this planet many religions have tried to artificially "reshape" our nature. Even worse, those "teachings" are hard-coded in so many current legislations. How wrong we have been to ourselves!!

4 out of 5

Great book, but the reader was not right for this sort of book at all. I would have enjoyed it a lot more with a more suitable reader.

Kudos to Ryan and Jetha

What made the experience of listening to Sex at Dawn the most enjoyable?

I've been using internet keyword search term tools to understand business on the internet since 1997. One thing you learn immediately; filter out sexual search terms. These tool providers have the filters already set up and easily found. Why? Because the top two hundred or so searched words and phrases are sexual in nature and you don't want to waste time scrolling down past them every time you do a search for the high traffic search terms. We are sexual animals. The Victorian narrative musty old cover for timid or unimaginative scientific research in this area. These authors have the courage to tell us that most respected anthropologist 'have no clothes on' when they talk to us about monogamy and our primate nature.

We aren't plants. We are animals. We are primates. We hunted and gathered and women were equally good at getting the tribe fed. The most important thing I got from this book was a tip of the roots view of Patriarchy.

Very Interesting!!

This isn't a work of Evolutionary Psychology, rather, it dismantles much of the BS that that field has been propagating.

Fascinating and informative

A smart and entertaining criticism of the myth that Homo sapiens is monogamous by nature. While not a manifesto of free love by any standard, this book provides an comparative observation of sex in our primate relatives, different practices in different societies, and current beliefs, including masturbation, monogamy, polyandry and many others. The author contrasts his conclusions and observations of many other scientists, psychologists, sociologists, and evolutionists.

The author's view challenges current beliefs and is very thought-provoking. Allyson Johnson's narration is, like always, beautiful and adds another vibrant dimension to a great read.

too short

I loved it but found the ending abrupt - it just ended when I was hoping for more stuff.

good listen

it was an interesting history of the relationship between men and women. it was a mix of biology, sociology and just plain common sense. more time could have been spent trying to explain women.

Everyone would benefit from this one!

This book is to say the least, eye opening. it sheds light on sexual behavior and how we have evolved into who we are today. It's written with humor intertwined so it's not sterile or boring. It's hilarious and very well presented.

history lover

this is must read for anyone who is a lover of history and ponders questions about how the past impacts culture and society today.

Wow

This was a great book. I found it to be very informative and at times eye-opening.