Publisher's Weekly Review
Lee, professor of anthropology at the University of California, Riverside, approaches an array of topics in the field of human evolution with candor, clarity, and brevity. Among her subjects are the role "social childbirth" plays in "the true beginnings of humanity," whether early humans came out of Africa or Asia, and the factors that "led to the unique human model of family." The ways that the science of human evolution is evolving alongside technological innovations and new fossil finds thematically links the book's discrete topics. Lee's research offers insights into current debates and also reveals new findings; for example, data regarding burial practices shows that humans began to live long enough to witness the births of their grandchildren only 30,000 years ago, in the European Upper Paleolithic-not some two million years ago as previously thought. Lee does not go in-depth on any particular topic, though she provides some interesting narrative details, particularly her hair-raising near encounter with the yakuza while trying to authenticate the missing remains of the "Peking Man." Though specialists might grimace at Lee's lack of nuance, lay readers will be grateful for her straightforward work. Illus. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
An exceptionally reader-friendly introduction to human evolution.Lee (Anthropology/Univ. of California, Riverside) bases her book largely on a series of essays published simultaneously in a Korean newspaper and science magazine for the general public. To engage the widest general audience, the author writes in a refreshingly conversational style, eschewing the jargon of paleoanthropology so that the topics are "understandable to someone without a background in" the discipline. Because of their origin as separate essays, there is some repetition in chapters, but this is minimal and often adds to the clarity of the subject being discussed. Chapter titles reflect the tone of the essayse.g., "Big-Brained Babies Give Moms Big Grief," "Granny Is an Artist," "Got Milk?" and "A Gene for Snow White." The approach is not chronological, so chapters can be read in any order, and they often begin with a question or an anecdote. Many chapters conclude with a brief section labeled "Extra," which brings a fresh perspective such as an update or a personal note. The author introduces readers to both the knowns and the unknowns, controversial issues that plague scientists trying to untangle these roots. How do the Neanderthals and the Denisovans fit in, and what about the tiny Hobbit-like hominins who lived in Indonesia thousands of years ago? There is some humor here but no flippancy. Lee demonstrates clearly how research continues to add to our understanding of the complex roots of human origins, roots that "are becoming more complicated and tangled than we ever thought before." As the author notes, "humanity did not agonize over the best long-term course development. We proceeded by making the best decision possible at that moment, within our specific environment." Full-page black-and-white illustrations of tools, fossils, and locations add to the book's appeal.Highly accessible, consistently interesting popular science writing. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Near the beginning of her career at the University of California's Riverside campus, with a background concentrated mostly on pure research, Lee felt ill-suited in the role of teaching introductory anthropology classes to undergraduates. After writing a series of columns on her field for a science magazine in her native Korea, however, she reworked her lectures and turned them into a form of storytelling, an approach that not only benefited herself and her students but also inspired this captivating collection of essays about human evolution. In easily digestible chapters with wry titles such as Meat Lovers R Us and A Gene for Snow White, Lee explores a wide range of anthropological topics, from the questionable existence of cannibals in primitive cultures to common student questions such as are humans still evolving? In Granny Is an Artist, Lee discusses the relatively recent increase in human longevity. Another piece reveals the surprising prevalence of Neanderthal traits in our present-day gene lines. Despite a few dryly technical detours, Lee's stories about evolution are at once engaging and educational.--Hays, Carl Copyright 2018 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
THE UNMAKING OF THE PRESIDENT 2016 By Lanny J. Davis. (Scribner, $25.) Davis, the consummate Washington insider and former special counsel to Bill Clinton, offers his take on the 2016 election. In his view, the former F.B.I. director James Comey's announcement, 11 days before the vote, that Hillary Clinton's emails were under investigation again, dealt the fatal blow, making the monster By Kathryn Harkup. (Sigma, $27.) Could Victor Frankenstein actually have succeeded in 1818, building a man out of spare parts? That was the year that Mary Shelley published her classic novel, and Harkup looks at the science behind the 19th-century culture of experimentation with dead bodies to which it was responding, sister of darkness By R. H. Stavi with Sarah Durand. (Dey St., $26.99.) Yes, there are such things as "secular exorcists." Stavis is one (along with being, fittingly, a screenwriter of horror movies). After helping what she says are thousands of people expel their demons, she has decided here to speak of her unique power, chicago By David Mamet. (Custom House, $26.99.) The combustible playwright and screenwriter turns once again to fiction in his fourth novel, set in 1920s Chicago among small-time crooks and aspiring mobsters. It has all the trademarks of a Mamet production - electric dialogue and a hurtling pace, close encounters with humankind By Sang-??? Lee. (Norton, $26.95.) Lee, a paleoanthropologist, tells us much about our evolutionary origins by sorting through our ancestors' mortal remains. Examining wisdom teeth from various periods, for example, she was able to establish how long ago our life spans first allowed us to know our grandparents. It hasn't been that long: only 30,000 years. "The selection of Min Jin Lee's PACHENCO as one of the Book Review's 10 Best Books of 2017 made me turn to the novel about four generations of a Korean family. While epic in scope - and, at nearly 500 pages, in scale - the book also makes vivid the quotidian details of its characters' everyday lives, from Sunja's visits to the 'fish broker' in Japanese-occupied Korea to the indignities suffered by Solomon as an aspiring Korean banker in 1980s Japan. The novel expertly portrays the rituals and mores specific to ethnic Korean culture even as it also poignantly captures the universally complicated relationships between family members, lovers and friends. The writing is spare and evocative: 'She could feel Noa's small hand when he was a boy, and she would close her eyes and think of his sweet, grassy smell and remember that he had always tried his best.' " - ROBIN POGREBIN, CULTURE REPORTER, ON WHAT SHE'S READING.
Library Journal Review
Lee (paleoanthropology, Univ. of California-Riverside) studies human evolution from our earliest ancestors to the present. In 22 chapters she considers a variety of questions about the long evolutionary journey from Australopithecus to Homo sapiens. Were our ancestors cannibals? Why does skin color vary? Are humans genetically programmed to be social? Did modern humans develop in one place or in multiple locations? Was the invention of agriculture a boon or a bane? Written for the general public, these essays are accessible and entertaining and provide fascinating insights into our human origins while explaining the many ways paleo-anthropologists go about their work. Engagingly read by Emily Woo Zeller, this book will appeal to listeners from middle school to adults. VERDICT Highly recommended. Anyone with the slightest interest in human origins should listen to this book. ["-Written in an easygoing, conversational style, this collection offers an intriguing glimpse into the study of human evolution": LJ 12/17 review of the Norton hc.]-Joanna Burkhardt, Univ. of Rhode Island Libs., Providence © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
