A Mind of Its Own
Subtitle: A Cultural History of the Penis
Publisher: Free Press
Published: October 30, 2001
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 368
ISBN-13: 9780684853208
Subjects: Social aspects; Social History; Physical Anthropology; Social Science; Sociology; Human Sexuality; Anthropology; Biological anthropology; History / General; Men's studies; Anthropology - General; Men's Studies - General; History; Penis
First sentence: Unlike her life, Anna Pappenheimer's death was a public event.
Description: "Whether enemy or ally, demon or god, the source of satisfaction or the root of all earthly troubles, the penis has forced humanity to wrestle with its enduring mysteries. Here, in an enlightening and entertaining cultural study, is a book that gives context to the central role of the penis in Western civilization.".

"In A Mind of Its Own, David M. Friedman shows that the penis is more than a body part. It is an idea, a conceptual but flesh-and-blood measuring stick of man's place in the world. That men have a penis is a scientific fact; how they think about it, feel about it, and use it is not. It is possible to identify the key moments in Western history when a new idea of the penis addressed the larger mystery of man's relationship with it and changed forever the way that organ was conceived of and put to use.

A Mind of Its Own brilliantly distills this complex and largely unexamined story."--BOOK JACKET.