Amazon.com Review

Yale University's George Hersey has come up with an entertaining theory that introduces Darwinian concepts of sexual selection to art history. Briefly stated, his argument goes like this: human beings have chosen their sexual mates based on artistic representations of beauty, as a result of which the human form has gradually evolved to mirror the proportions of those representations. Hersey admits up front that his hypothesis is largely unprovable, but it's still great fun to consider, particularly since he manages to cram a lot of information about everything from prehistoric sculpture to the Incredible Hulk into approximately 200 pages without resorting to an excessive amount of stuffy academic jargon. This book will give your brain muscles a workout, but one that any art lover should enjoy. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A highly interesting look of the element of 'beauty' as manifested in art throughout the ages."

—Art Times

"Hersey . . . estblishes compelling connections between high art and popular culture in this entertaining interdisciplinary romp."

—Choice