Whether we love them or hate them, think they're sexy, think they're strange, consider them too big, too small, or anywhere in between, humans have a complicated relationship with butts. It is a body part unique to humans, critical to our evolution and survival, and yet it has come to signify so much more: sex, desire, comedy, shame. But why? In Butts: A Backstory, reporter, essayist, and RadioLab contributing editor Heather Radke is determined to find out.
Winning, cheeky and illuminating ... Though curious and wide-ranging in her investigation, Radke chose to leave some behinds behind. Her interest lies in glutei maximi that tend toward maximal ... Radke is an eager, inventive reporter, relishing her search into greater understanding of why so many women, starting with herself, have such complicated relationships with their rears. She’s an engaging storyteller ... Radke proves a witty, incisive observer, particularly when she steers clear of academic jargon. ... She’s smart about social history but falters when she gets personal, indulging feelings about her own rear and dating history that add little beyond dulling her feminist and modern take. The book’s introduction is weak and gratuitous, littered with quotes from unnamed women that feel forced. Like many recent book introductions, it’s a lot of tell, not show, and reads like a tacked-on exercise that dilutes the book’s intention and intelligence ... What appears initially as a folly with a look-at-this cover and title becomes, thanks to Radke’s intelligence and curiosity, something much meatier, entertaining and wise.
... don’t be fooled by the cheeky peach emoji on Radke’s cover. Despite her sporadic and careful sense of humor on the subject, the author’s account of the female butt is in many cases a narrative of physical suffering ... engaging, personal and necessarily cherry-picked ... The book goes deeper than it goes wide.
Fascinating and frank ... Butts can usher readers onto [a] more positive path, thanks to its top-notch reportage, assured and respectful voice and invitation to butt-centric contemplation.
