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Title: The Face : A Natural History by Daniel McNeill ISBN: 0-316-58812-1 Publisher: Back Bay Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.75 (4 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: An Eyebrow Raiser
Comment: You might get the idea that this is a book of fun facts about the face and so it is. But it is also a look at philosophy and psychology and human behavior and art and culture, using the face and its individual parts as jumping-off points.
For instance, we learn that the purpose of the eyebrow is to keep sweat out of the eye. But author Daniel McNeill goes on to observe that in different cultures and at different times, it has been fashionable for women and men to pluck out the eyebrows. And the main purpose of the eyebrow is communication. With it, we can indicate a wide range of expressions. McNeill uses Groucho Marx, John Belushi, Uriah Heep, and Charles Darwin to makes his points about eyebrows.
McNeill proceeds to deconstruct the eyelashes, and nearly every other bit of the face in much the same way, using French poetry, Elizabethan drama, 20th century popular culture, and smatterings of natural science to illuminate his descriptions. We learn that flight attendants routinely convince themselves that they like the difficult passenger so that they can deal with him more effectively. What does that have to do with the face? The flight attendants know that it is almost impossible to fake a convincing smile so they can only be effective if they believe they truly like the truculent boor in seat 14D. It's the same sort of logic that makes a successful telephone worker smile even though the listener can't see the smile. You sound different when you smile. Happier.
There are tidbits like this throughout The Face. If you find a discussion about Greek philosophers heavy going, hang on, McNeill will have moved on to Dracula or Mark Twain in a few paragraphs.
The Face was so enjoyable and informative, that I am quite puzzled to find that McNeill hasn't written any more non-fiction since this 1998 book.
Rating: 5
Summary: Fascinating Read
Comment: Dan McNeill does a very thorough job in discussing the face. From evolution, culture, physiology, and psychology. I was very impressed with the amount of research he went through, who knew the ear alone had such a long and rich history?
The two aspects of the book I found most interesting were the evolutionary background of each feature of the face from the obvious (ie. the mouth) to the not so obvious (ie. the eyebrow) and his own philisophical meanderings into the standards of beauty.
He also discusses facial expressions, differences in facial structure among different races, comparisons to other species, facial augmentation including piercings and plastic surgery, as well as a brief and not too complicated study in anatomy.
My only caution is that I hoped that there would be more illustrations to accompany some of his text, but McNeill is a lively author and this is definately a good nonfiction read. I can't stress his thoroughness enough so that there's something in there for everyone, from the hardcore scientist to the curious layperson.
Rating: 5
Summary: finally I know a fun fact about the pineal gland
Comment: Everything the amazon.com review says up there is true. A well-written, well-rounded, fascinating, funny and sometimes poetic book-- but also big fun for science-heads like me! It is so lovely when books can draw from biological, evolutionary, historical, psychological, sociological, literary and cultural perspectives at the same time (and more, I just got tired of listing ologies). The antidote to the other kind of specialised learning.
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Title: Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty by Nancy Etcoff ISBN: 0385479425 Publisher: Anchor Books/Doubleday Pub. Date: 05 July, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Human Face by Brian Bates, John Cleese, British Broadcasting Corporation ISBN: 0789478366 Publisher: DK Publishing Inc Pub. Date: 01 July, 2001 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: In the Eye of the Beholder: The Science of Face Perception by Vicki Bruce, Andy Young, Andrew W. Young ISBN: 0198524404 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 December, 1998 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
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Title:The Human Face ASIN: B00005LC1B Publisher: Warner Home Video Pub. Date: 28 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $29.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $26.98 |
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Title: Reading Faces: Window to the Soul? (New Directions in Social Psychology) by Leslie A. Zebrowitz ISBN: 0813327474 Publisher: Westview Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 1997 List Price(USD): $33.00 |
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