Amazon.com

What Frank Wilson did for The Hand, and Diane Ackerman for the senses, Daniel McNeill now does for the face. In a fascinating tour of our magnificent mugs, McNeill uses biology and history to help readers appreciate the underappreciated. "We often treat the face as the self," he writes in the introduction, and hence we look right through the most interesting part of our bodies. From our strange, pointy noses ("zoologically bizarre") to our rubbery lips ("twin pleasure puffs, rich with touch sensors"), our faces mark humans as unique among animals. And, oh the things we do with our faces! McNeill examines them all, unflinchingly analyzing the kiss, the sneer, the grin, the blush, and the bluff, not to mention the fleeting expressions that reveal our poker hands, lies, and true feelings. He speculates about fascinating things like the origins of the smile and the use of cosmetics. He works science, literary references, and historical anecdotes into the text effortlessly, weaving a mesmerizing narrative full of bits of trivia that will have you raising your eyebrows, pricking up your ears, and laughing out loud. --Therese Littleton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

If, as Cicero noted, "Everything is in the face," then this book should have universal appeal. Science journalist McNeill, principal author of Fuzzy Logic (LJ 1/93), considers why humans developed their characteristic facial components and why we find certain features more appealing than others. The questions he poses range from the fundamental (why did sense organs come to "cluster up front?") to the more controversial (is there such a thing as universal beauty?). McNeill borrows examples from art, literature, history, and mythology to illustrate how the face figures in our interactions with others across a variety of cultures. Among the fascinating issues he explores are the act of kissing, veiling the face, the changing fashion in beards, eyewitness error, mirrors, cosmetics, and the phenomena of crying and laughter. While not an essential purchase, McNeill's book provides a unique slant on a very personal subject and is written in a straightforward, entertaining style that should appeal to many readers.?Laurie Bartolini, MacMurray Coll. Lib., Springfield, IL

Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.