The Naked Woman

''The Naked Woman lives up to the high standard Morris set for himself in many of his more than 30 previous books, including The Naked Ape. He champions the current data suggesting that women are by nature more fluent in speech than men, better at handling several tasks at once and more manually dexterous. In fact, after noting that most exceptional pianists are men, he writes, 'If a slightly smaller keyboard was made . . . female pianists would easily outplay their male counterparts.' In an age when many educated people resist the voluminous data on the biological variations between the sexes, Morris's unapologetic description of myriad gender differences is refreshing. Perhaps most important, Morris reiterates an anthropological tenet: for millions of years humankind lived in societies where women and men were regarded as different but largely equal. Today women in many cultures are gradually returning to their ancient human status. And in a time when some people question the concept of evolution, Morris's book gives an elegant view of nature's timeless evolutionary processes and one of its most sophisticated creations: woman."—Helen Fisher, The New York Times Book Review

"[Morris] minces no words . . . He is always specific, startling, but logical."—Harper's Magazine

"Stimulating . . . thought-provoking . . . [Morris] has introduced some novel and challenging ideas and speculations."—Natural History Magazine

"[Morris's] study of the human animal is original, provocative, and brilliantly entertaining. It's the sort of book which changes people's lives."—The Sunday Times (London)

"Undeniably the quintessential observer of the human condition."—Booklist