God's Doodle: The Life and Times of the Penis

by Thomas Hickman

Overview

You will be impotent with both laughter as you read this "remarkably entertaining and informative look at the male organ down through the ages . . . undeniably funny” (Booklist).

Throughout history, man has revered his penis as his “most precious ornament.” From small to large, thick to thin, smooth to wrinkled, Thomas Hickman lets the history of this mystery hang out for all to see. Offering discussion of ancient literatures and mathematical quandaries of possible positions, such as Greece’s “the lion on the cheese-grater,” which still keeps scholars in a twist. It is a stiff subject, but we easily settle in with the likes of Bill Clinton, Michelangelo’s David, and Shakespeare as they followed their heads. If you were to wrap your hands around anything less than two-inches, it should be God’s Doodle, a brilliant history of the penis that hits the topic right on the head. It reaches through time and looks at how the penis trended long before one was ever posted on Twitter.

“[A] well-researched, dryly witty and worthwhile read.” —Salon

“Tom Hickman tells the story of its ups and downs with enthusiasm and a mostly straight face.” —The Economist

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781593765255
Publisher:	Catapult
Publication date:	10/29/2013
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Thomas Hickman has worked as a journalist on national magazines, newspapers and for the BBC. His books include a biography of Churchill's wartime bodyguard; the story of the BBC during World War Two; the experience of the Bevin Boys, sent to work in the coalmines during it; and of post-war National Service after it. He has also written a history of changing sexual mores during the 20th century.

Editorial Reviews

09/02/2013
British historian Hickman (Churchill’s Bodyguard) delivers a history of the penis and all things phallic that is both absolutely serious and has its tongue somewhere near its literary cheek. Divided into four broad subject areas, Hickman surveys penis size (“Few males when grown to man’s estate free themselves entirely from some preoccupation with penis size”); phallic culture (“genital oath-taking” in ancient Greece and Rome); fear of castration (15th-century treatments for gonorrhea ranged “from washing the genitals in vinegar to plunging the penis into a freshly killed chicken”); and the biology and physics of penile activity (the hypothalamus causes men to sexually scrutinize all women they see). Along the way, Hickman provides a brief history of sexual lingo, including the early Anglo-Saxon sard and the 16th-century shag (“Shakespeare favoured the variant shog”), and offers praise for the sexual prowess of 17th-century castrati (“losing testicles does not mean losing the ability to get erections and even to ejaculate”). Overall, Hickman’s book is entertaining and informative. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"This isn’t a very long book, but it’s not the page count that matters; it’s what the author does with it. And he does a lot…a remarkably entertaining and informative look at the male organ down through the ages…an undeniably funny book…Fascinating."—Booklist

"Tom Hickman tells the story of its ups and downs with enthusiasm and a mostly straight face"—The Economist

"[A} well-researched, dryly witty and worthwhile read."—Salon.com

From the Publisher