A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman (1990)

I am normally a voracious reader of any title that begins with A Natural History of ..., but this particular volume was simply not to my liking and I found myself skipping along, leaving parts unread.  Why?  I think because Ackerman's method of narrating A Natural History of the Senses, though logical and understandable (it is broken into chapters for each sense, plus a final chapter on synesthesia), leaves you underwhelmed on the topic.  This is less a "natural history" of the senses, than a book-poem about human sensation in the many wild and colorful ways it is experienced.

Cover image: alibris.com

In the book there are many, many little anecdotes for each sense, to the point that Ackerman's larger meaning is often lost.  I often felt like I was at a party, sitting next to an overly talkative guest who insisted on sharing every bit of trivia she knew about the senses.  Ackerman also has an odd habit of throwing in irrelevant items while discussing a sense - for example, under smell she mentions that "Birds sing to announce their presence in the world, mark their territories, impress a mate, boast of their status - ultimately,  much of it has to do with sex and mating."  Fair enough, but that sentence has nothing to do with the sense of smell and could easily have been moved to the chapter on sound.  The book has many of these poetry-like inconsistencies that, for me, made this a very difficult read.

There are many moments of insight and true beauty in the book, however.  These are especially vivid when Ackerman describes one of her own experiences, like tagging Monarch butterflies and the smell of the eucalyptus forest.  I would recommend the book to a reader who enjoys a book overflowing with intricate language about human sensations, but not to someone interested in learning more about the senses.