Crazy Little Thing - erotic book by Cleis Press Inc. - review by Nothere

The Author of Crazy Little Thing is Liz Langley. Liz Langley is an author, a columnist, a blogger, and an award winning journalist, whose work has appeared in/on alon.com, Jezebel, Alternet, Details, Glamour, Bust, Carnal Nation, Destination Weddings & Honeymoons and Gene Simmon's Tongue. She is also a columnist in Eden's very own SexIs Magazine!

The book is written in first person and we follow Langley on her journey. Langley's voice is easy to read. Reading it feels like being told a story. She doesn't use archaic or esoteric words (at least not without explaining them). In no way does this feel like a college lecture. Rather, it feels like Langley is telling you about her travels and research over coffee or dinner. Langley is very personable and really engages the reader.

Langley is not the *expert* here. She's not a neuroscientist; she's more of a journalist. Therefore, she includes many third party stories and personal anecdotes along with the science. Because of this, the book, at times, can feel a bit confusing. It's hard to to keep straight the 'stories' from the 'science'.

What is this book? According to Langley it "isn't a how to. It's more of a "guess what". The book is about the endorphins, hormones, and neurotransmitters that cause us to act in the name of love. The front cover tells the reader that this book is about "how your hormones and neurotransmitters make you do really stupid things". To do so, it combines stories and science, using the science to explain why the stories happened the way that it did.

The book is split up into 10 chapters. Each of the 10 chapters discuss a different concept. Each chapter has sub chapters. The book is story driven. One chapter may focus on a single story, such as Chapter 4: "The Ballad of Burt and Linda" to illustrate the concept. Or it could use multiple stories to illustrate the concept, such as in Chapter 6: Genetic Sexual Attraction, which references everything from Edgar Allen Poe to Oedipus Rex.

It's hard to describe how each sub chapter is divided. Take Chapter 4: "The Ballad of Burt and Linda", for example. The first sub chapter is a question: "If you break up with New York, Can You still Be Friends?". That subchapter introduces the story of Burt and Linda. Then the next sub chapter is called "Linda" and gives Linda's point of view. The last subchapter, "The Shaky Bridge", is the science behind Burt and Linda's actions. The break up in Chapter 4 isn't quite the same as the break up in Chapter 6, however. In Chapter 6 the break up is "It Sucks to Be Edgar Allan Poe", "The Last Taboo: it wasn't a mother son relationship, it was a boyfriend girlfriend relationship", "GSA in Art", and "No Kids Allowed on the Moon". Each subchapter gives different examples of GSA, or Genetic Sexual Attraction in history and in the arts.


The book is geared towards everybody. It's not heterosexual, homosexual, white, black, asian, atheist, Christian, etc. specific. She gives examples of an extremely wide variety of things, everything from Plato to homosexuality in animals. She also does not give any conclusions, rather she just lays out information and opinons made by experts. It would suit readers who are looking for a light hearted read the best. It's not heavy and science laden. It's very story driven. For those who are looking for a really instructional book, this isn't really the one for you.

The book is well designed, but nothing special. It's a sturdy paperback book. The spine is quite strong and does not crease easily. However I did bend the cover...and it stayed that way. The cover is very very discreet. It does not scream SEX (well, it isn't exactly about sex). The text is clear and easy to read and the end notes are well organized and easy to find.

I have to say that I was rather disappointed in the book. The style just didn't work for me and there was just too much stuff crammed into 256 pages. The style was informal, which I didn't mind. However the mix of science and story just didn't do it for me. It's not that I prefer science (I hated biology), but with this book, I just didn't learn much science. There was less science than story, and for someone who focuses more on story in the first place, well, I just didn't really learn much from it.

Another that I had about the book was that it was too packed. The book covered so many different things, from necrophilia to personality disorders to genetic sexual attraction, etc. Each topic that was covered could have easily been its own book. That plus the fact that the book is story driven caused me to retain very little. I remember Edgar Allen Poe, something about a Lobsterman, and other bits and pieces of stories. However, because it was story based, I remember the story, but not much of the science behind it!

The reason why this is in personal comments is because this is quite personal. While it's true that this book covers a lot and is very story driven, it's how my brain processes information and what my brain chooses to remember that caused me to dislike the book. It's a very well written book that gives you an overview of an, admittedly, vast subject and does so in a friendly way. For that, the author should be commended.