ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: THE WASHINGTON POST - FINANCIAL TIMES - THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS - BOOKPAGE - THE BOSTON GLOBE "Glorious. . . . Having described the physical nature of our world and beyond, from the atomic to the intergalactic, in
The Body [Bryson] now turns inward to explain--in his lucid, amusing style--what we're made of. . . . Astonishing. . . . You will marvel at the brilliance and vast weirdness of your design."
--The Washington Post
"Delightful . . . reveals the thousands of rarely acknowledged tasks our body takes care of as we go about our day. . . . Informative, entertaining and often gross (kissing, according to one study, transfers up to one billion bacteria from one mouth to another, along with 0.2 micrograms of food bits). . . . Bryson, who gives off a Cronkite-like trustworthy vibe, is good at allaying fears and busting myths."
--The New York Times Book Review
"Bryson is a master explainer, with a gift for the pithy simile and all-encompassing metaphor. . . . Mr. Bryson's account is enlivened by his excellent command of the history of medicine. . . . Brisk, provocative and entertaining throughout."
--The Wall Street Journal
"Fascinating."
--NPR "Bryson launches himself into the wilderness of the human anatomy armed with his characteristic thoroughness and wit. . . .This book is full of such arresting factoids and, like a douser hunting water, Bryson is adept at finding the bizarre and the arcane in his subject matter. . . . Amazing."
--USA Today
"A witty, informative immersion. . . .
The Body--a delightful, anecdote-propelled read--proves one of his most ambitious yet, as he leads us on a head-to-toe tour of a physique that's terra incognita to many of us. . . . Playful, lucid. . . . [Bryson] cover[s] a remarkably large swathe of human corporeal and cerebral experience."
--The Boston Globe
"A directory of wonders. . . . Extraordinary. . . . A tour of the minuscule; it aims to do for the human body what his
A Short History of Nearly Everything did for science. . . . Wry, companionable, avuncular and always lucid . . . [
The Body] could stand as an ultimate prescription for life."
--The Guardian
"A delightful tour guide. . . . Bryson's stroll through human anatomy, physiology, evolution, and illness (diabetes, cancer, infections) is instructive, accessible, and entertaining."
--Booklist, starred review "Amusingly informative."
--Forbes
"A pleasing, entertaining sojourn into the realm of what makes us tick."
--Kirkus Reviews
