Anthropologist Helen Fisher is the author of Why We Love, Anatomy of Love, and The First Sex. Here she chooses six favorite books that illuminate the traits that all humans share.
Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman by Marjorie Shostak (Harvard University Press, $18). Chronicles the world of a mid-20th-century !Kung Bushmen woman living in a hunting-gathering band in southern Africa, much as our ancestors did millenniums ago. Yet Nisa’s childhood crushes, teen romances, and marriages, philanderings, and divorces are no different from those of many young women (and men) in industrial societies.
The Mating Mind: How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature by Geoffrey F. Miller (Anchor, $15). Proposes that many human attributes, including our facility for language, our intelligence, curiosity, and sense of morality—even our urge to sing, dance, draw, and joke—evolved “by moonlight” as our forebears strove to impress and win preferred mating partners.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Hidden Life of Dogs by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas (Pocket, $13). Depicts love at first sight, compassion, and profound attachment between two huskies named Misha and Marie. With this book I came to realize how much humanity shares with many mammalian cousins.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (Bantam, $6). A page-turner and a pivotal book for understanding human cruelty.
As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl by John Colapinto (Perennial, $14). Toppled centuries of beliefs about the malleability of “maleness” and “femaleness.”
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
-
'This is exactly what technology should be doing'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Black women are being pushed out of the workforce en masseIN THE SPOTLIGHT Employment data shows hundreds of thousands of Black women have left the labor market over the past few months. What's behind this mass exodus?
-
Is Amazon about to take over the grocery business?Today's Big Question Expanded delivery will present a challenge to Walmart and Kroger
-
Helen Schulman's 6 favorite collections of short storiesFeature The award-winning author recommends works by Raymond Carver, James Baldwin, and more
-
Beatriz Williams' 6 timeless books about history and human relationshipsFeature The best-selling author recommends works by Jane Austen, Zora Neale Hurston, and more
-
Aysegul Savas' 6 favorite books for readers who love immersive settingsFeature The Paris-based Turkish author recommends works by Hiromi Kawakami, Virginia Woolf, and more
-
Geoff Dyer's 6 favorite books about the realities of warFeature The award-winning author recommends works by Ernie Pyle, Michael Herr, and more
-
Laura Lippman's 6 favorite books for those who crave a high-stakes adventureFeature The Grand Master recommends works by E.L. Konigsburg, Charles Portis, and more
-
Thomas Mallon's 6 favorite books from the 80's and early 90'sFeature The author recommends works by James Merrill, Calvin Trillin, and more
-
Anne Hillerman's 6 favorite books with Native charactersFeature The author recommends works by Ramona Emerson, Craig Johnson, and more
-
John Kenney's 6 favorite books that will break your heart softlyFeature The novelist recommends works by John le Carré, John Kennedy Toole, and more
