Where this book fails is that it doesn't discuss RACIAL differences -- Blackes, Whites, and Asians are different (both men and women) genetically, and these differences are simply not discussed, but rather assigned to just "men and women." (Political Correctness is still too powerful to discuss racial differences). Therefore, for all meaningful purposes, this book's usefullness is severely dilluted.

The book is entertaining, and if you know absolutely NOTHING about sex differences (forget about racial for now).... then it's at least a good (but skewed) start. However, it IS simplistic and very P.C. -- the main idea was to sell books and make money, and they accomplished that.


A great set of advice....a poor set of facts!   May 9, 2003
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

There are the good and the not so good things that I have to say about this book. I have been interested in factors and socio-biological mechanisms that control and influence the interaction between the sexes and also their respective behaviors in general, and is why the front page looked interesting.

Well the upside of the book for me, as a male, has been that that people of the opposite gender do seem more discernible now! So the book can be helpful if you look forward to increase your 'social range', get along better with your partner or just make better companions in general with people of the opposite gender.

And here's the downside; this book can be utterly dissapointing from a more scientific point of view if you want some greater insight into what really ticks within us and why we do what we do. The book floats throughout on a superficial level, just mentioning some scientific experiments when needed to support a seemingly pre-opinionated statement. There has been categorization of men and women into two separate behavorial clases on the basis of criteria as brutally simplistic as those which would be used to distinguish cotton from wool! The talk is based more on certain biological evidences ( which again I found to be trivial and am pretty skeptical about) rather than complex sociological factors. The book tries to answer too much with too little of solid facts and evidence, something which may even be referred to as being pseudoscientific. In fact, this book has almost no scientific maturity or depth, and some claims will seem to be out right juvenile.

So to sum it up, it's a good handbook for knowing and making more friends of the opposite sex, but hey if you are looking for seroius answers, this is definitely not the material to go for.


too simplistic   March 18, 2002
 5 out of 8 found this review helpful

This book may be quite humorous at times, but it is not based on any credible scientific data. The ideas are simplistic and simply try to reinforce stereotypes and put all women into one category and men in another. Life would be easy if we were all so simple. Life is full of over-laps, and the reasons behind why we do certain things are beyond complex. The book is also insensitive to both men and women. It's not worth reading for those of us who are trying to search for any answers or find inspiration.


Okay but very simplistic.   May 13, 2001
 8 out of 13 found this review helpful

Very interesting stuff in this book, but anyone reading it should regularly repeat 'It's not scientific' and 'this is not necessarily the absolute truth'. To keep the book enjoyable and readable, the authors tend to portray men and women in rather stereotypical ways. To be fair, they do point this out at the start, but not often enough for my taste. Sometimes this was quite annoying, for instance when they recommend that women should not read maps if they have a choice 'give it to a men, it's HIS job'. That's a handy tip for me to remember when I next drive on my own to a new place. Just find a random man and watch him magically read the map without having to- shudder- turn it round! Gosh, I'd never have thought of that.

Oh, and as for 'women dominating all sorts of areas of work' and 'there isn't a male conspiracy to suppress women' as one reviewer suggested- hmm, yes, but we don't often get paid as much as men do we? The feminist project is based on the idea that men have historically dominated society and that the effects on women's lives of several thousand years of this are taking a while to rectify. Indeed it's good that women are starting to shine in jobs which reflect their strengths, but the vast majority of women worldwide are still denied the chance to reach their full potential.

Anyway, disgression over. Read the book if you want some interesting insights on sex differences, but don't forget it's not the last word on them!


Superficial pop science for the masses   January 17, 2001
 8 out of 9 found this review helpful

The one idea behind the book - that men and women act differently due to biological differences - is not sufficient to fill an entire book. There is therefore a good deal of repetition - and limp jokes. The analysis is superficial, since it seems the authors start with their one great idea then take on board only scientific data which supports their view - a fundamental flaw and one common to the rash of pop science books for the masses which aim to reinforce commonly held prejudices using a light dusting of dodgy science. Save your money.