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| Book Reports Click here to return to the Main Menu BOOK REPORT: HEROES, ROGUES, AND LOVERS: Testosterone and Behavior by James McBride Dabbs with Mary Godwin Dabbs Good book, lousy title. This is a solid, serious book �everything you ever wanted to know about testosterone and how it affects our behavior. I guess the publisher thought the grabby, three word title would sell as many copies as Jared Diamond�s Guns, Germs and Steel. Probably not and it�s a shame because it is a very worthwhile book. For some reason, we seem to be afraid of the notion that we are profoundly influenced by the various chemicals that flow through our bodies, as if that would deny us our free will. That issue aside, our obligation is to do the best we can with what we are, and to do that the more we know about ourselves, the better job we are likely to do. We seem willing to believe that chemicals cause and can cure mental illness, but reluctant to accept the notion that they influence those, like you and me, who are perfectly normal. The fact is, of course, that they do. The book describes all this in very readable prose, explaining how our behavior and personalities are shaped by testosterone; and, yes, women are influenced by it too, in case you thought it was just a �male thing�. So, pick it up and learn a lot more about yourself and the rest of us. |