THE SCORE: How the Quest for Sex Has Shaped the Modern Man

The Score, part sociological inquiry, part biology primer, and full of blessed wit, explores why the male of the species is who he is.

Faye Flam, writer of the Philadelphia Enquirer’s “Carnal Knowledge” column, sets out on a quest to figure out why the male of the species is who he is, and why he lustily pursues his feminine counterpart the way he does. Part sociological inquiry, part biology primer, and full of blessed wit, The Score reveals juicy tidbits, like that Drosphilia flies have sperm nearly equal in length to their bodies, and that tiny hermaphroditic yellow sea slugs have a “built-in date-rape drug” aimed at subduing females prior to copulation. Flam explores such biological truths to help explain some of the puzzling lengths human males will go to snag women, like paying over $2,000 to learn how to pick one up in a bar. In doing so, she beautifully unpacks the remarkable genetics and wooing ways of the gentleman genus.