Table of Contents

Adam's NavelIntroduction: The Form Complete
Neanderthals Yawned · The Mystery of the Visible

Part One: Headquarters

1. The Not-Quite-Naked Ape
The Hair of the Prophet · The Mark of the Beast · Burn It or Bury It · Samson's Hair · A Metaphysical Operation · The Etiquette of Deciduousness

2. Face-to-Face
The Family Face · The Face on Mars

3. The Vigilant Eye
Flesh Becomes a Mirror · Supercilious · The Blink of an Eye · The Dreaming Eye · Close Your Eyes

4. Houdini's Wiggle
The Ear of a Thousand Li · Darwin's Points and Houdini's Wiggle · Nor the Ear Filled with Hearing

5. A Ridiculous Organ

6. The Archaic Smile
Louis Armstrong's Lips · The Badge of a Harlot · A Kiss Is Just a Kiss · The Necessary and Ambivalent Tongue · Don't Read My Lips

Part Two: The Weight of the World

7. Arms and the Man

8. The Monkey's Paw
A Free Hand · Finger Math · Rule of Thumb · Our Natal Autograph · Tobin's Palm · On the Other Hand · Playing Chess with Death

9. Madonna del Latte
Breasts and "the Breast" · Via Lactia · The She-Devil from Hooter City · Topless · The Pillow of Paradise Versus the Millstone of History

10. Adam's Navel
Untying the Knot · A Brief History of Navel-Gazing

Part Three: A Leg to Stand on

11. Privy Members
The Commotion · Vagina Dialogues · Leonardo's Intelligent Organ · Boswell's Johnson · The Senator's Body Hair

12. Our Steed the Leg
Two Legs Good and Bad · The Scarecrow Learns to Dance · The Goddess with Beautiful Buttocks · Toes with Special Properties · Pedestrian Crossing

Acknowledgments
Selected Bibliography and Further Reading
Index

About the Author

Michael Sims is the author most recently of In the Womb: Animals (adapted from two National Geographic Channel documentaries); he is also the author of Apollo's Fire: A Journey through the Extraordinary Wonders of an Ordinary Day, which NPR chose as one of the best science books of 2007; Adam's Navel: A Natural and Cultural History of the Human Form, which was a New York Times Notable Book and a Library Journal Best Science Book; and Darwin's Orchestra: An Almanac of Nature in History and the Arts. For Penguin Classics he also edited The Annotated Archy and Mehitabel and Arsene Lupin, Gentleman-Thief, and he is currently editing The Penguin Book of Victorian Women in Crime. He has written for many periodicals, from the Washington Post to New Statesman.

Reviews

"This body—and bawdy—Baedeker should inspire readers to do some navel-gazing of their own." —Entertainment Weekly"A truly eclectic mix of cultural, scientific and literary perspectives on the bits and pieces that make up a human body." —Minneapolis Star Tribune

Sims's scattered thoughts while lying flat on his back, recovering from surgery on a dislocated cervical disc, were the origins of this delightful tour of our various body parts, from head to toe. It focuses on the outer body, and there's plenty to dwell upon with regard to eyes and ears and even the belly button. (The book's title derives from a centuries-old debate over whether Adam and Eve had navels since, not having emerged from a womb, they had no umbilical cord.) After an overture considering the skin, the book explores the head, the arms and torso, and the lower extremities (including genitals), each with its own set of colorful expressions and artistic interpretations. There's an entertaining fact on nearly every page, covering a wide range of subjects, from why human hair appears to grow after death to what French kissing was called in France (they considered it Italian). Historical sources reveal the roots of Barbie and Charles Atlas and the damage a lifetime of trumpet playing did to Louis Armstrong's lips, with some figures-including Charles Darwin and 19th-century criminologist Cesare Lombroso, who claimed he could identify the physical characteristics of the criminal classes-coming in for regular attention. Sims (Darwin's Orchestra: An Almanac of Nature in History and the Arts) marshals his disparate stories and facts into a cohesive whole with frequent humorous asides and poetic waxings. It all adds up to a rollicking "fantastic voyage" over the surface of the body. 15 line illus. not seen by PW. (On sale July 28) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

"This body-and bawdy-Baedeker should inspire readers to do some navel-gazing of their own." -Entertainment Weekly"A truly eclectic mix of cultural, scientific and literary perspectives on the bits and pieces that make up a human body." -Minneapolis Star Tribune