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The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature Audiobook
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(4.14) - 14 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
“A terrific book, witty and lucid, and brimming with provocative conjectures.” (Wall Street Journal) from the author of the acclaimed New York Times bestseller Genome
Brilliantly written, The Red Queen compels us to rethink everything from the persistence of sexism to the endurance of romantic love.
Referring to Lewis Carroll's Red Queen from Through the Looking-Glass, a character who has to keep running to stay in the same place, Matt Ridley demonstrates why sex is humanity's best strategy for outwitting its constantly mutating internal predators. The Red Queen answers dozens of other riddles of human nature and culture—including why men propose marriage, the method behind our maddening notions of beauty, and the disquieting fact that a woman is more likely to conceive a child by an adulterous lover than by her husband. The Red Queen offers an extraordinary new way of interpreting the human condition and how it has evolved.
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"Oh deary me - I tried reading this I really did and it was VERY interesting but then I had other things to do so gave up. I think it's something you could dip in to every once in a while when you feel the need to read something intellectual. "
— Lucy (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Excellent, lively…Stuffed with odd and vivid examples…Ridley is an elegant writer who never obscures his argument with jargon.”
— Newsday -
“A terrific book: witty and lucid, and brimming with provocative conjectures.”
— Wall Street Journal -
“Ridley’s Red Queen is…literary and witty.”
— Boston Globe -
“A fascinating book filled with lucid prose and seductive reasoning.”
— Library Journal
Awards
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A New York Times Notable Book
The Red Queen Listener Reviews
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" Problem is, this was published in 1995, so some of it is already outdated, and the valid stuff I've already read elsewhere. "
— Ron, 5/6/2011 -
" If you liked the selfish gene you will like this, while inferior in many aspects. "
— Jesus, 2/7/2011 -
" in depth theories about how sex arose in evolution and the side effects that came with it. interesting but runs a little long "
— Tyler, 12/19/2010 -
" Very clearly defines many human behaviors in clear evolutionary terms (ala Dawkins). Definitely worth the read. "
— Mike, 11/3/2010 -
" I learned little that I hadn't already been introduced to but enjoyed Ridley's style of writing. "
— Erin, 10/6/2010 -
" A little older now but a great book that explains a lot about the position of sex in the evolutionary strategies. Highly recommended. "
— David, 9/5/2010
About Matt Ridley
Matt Ridley’s books have been short-listed for six literary awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His book The Agile Gene: How Nature Turns on Nurture won the award for the best science book published in 2003 from the National Academies of Science. He has been a scientist, a journalist, and a national newspaper columnist, and he is the chairman of the International Centre for Life in Newcastle, England. He is also a visiting professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York.
About Simon Prebble
Simon Prebble, a British-born performer, is a stage and television actor and veteran narrator of some three hundred audiobooks. As one of AudioFile’s Golden Voices, he has received thirty-seven Earphones Awards and won the prestigious Audie in 2010. He lives in New York.