Sperm Counts

Lisa Jean Moore is SUNY Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at Purchase College, State University of New York. She is the author of Sperm Counts: Overcome by Man's Most Precious Fluid, Catch & Release: The Enduring Yet Vulnerable Horseshoe Crab, Our Transgenic Future: Spider Goats, Genetic Modification and the Will to Change Nature as well as the co-author of Missing Bodies: The Politics of Visibility and Buzz: Urban Beekeeping and the Power of the Bee. She is also co-editor of The Body Reader: Essential Social and Cultural Readings.

• Acknowledgments Preface: Sperm Autobiography1 In the Beginning, There Was Sperm 2 Lashing Their Tails: Science Discovers Sperm 3 My Sperm in Shining Armor: Children's Books 4 Overcome: The Money Shot in Pornography and Prostitution 5 The Family Jewels: Sperm Banks and the Crisis of Fatherhood 6 The Little Bit Left Behind: Semen as Evidence 7 The Future of Sperm Methods Appendix: Becoming a Sperm Researcher Notes Index About the Author

"Sperm Counts is a serious book, and the first on its subject. But it also includes anecdotes from Moores life, lending it a more conversational tone than most academic works. The book's margins are even squiggled with sketches of sperm flip the pages and they swim around. (This is a subject matter, after all, that requires a certain degree of levity.) Moore happily lists spermatic nicknames (baby gravy, gentlemen's relish, pimp juice) before skewering, in a later chapter, the burgeoning home sperm-test industry (sample ad slogan: I don't know how that semen got in my underwear!)." (Salon.com) "At her best, Moore has a frank, breezy manner that may be partly due to her practical experience outside academe. . . . Sperm Counts is a lively, funny read." - Camille Paglia (The Chronicle Review) "Cartoon line-drawings of sperm wriggle over each page of text in this dissection of the ways societal views of sperm shape culture. A feminist account backed by sociological and scientific research, Moores academic tome is accessible to the masses." (Bust) "Sperm Counts is careful to include the history of semen research, as well as examining its role today. . . . [Moore] approach[es] the topic of semen with precision and diligence." (Bitch) "So fascinating and fresh. . . . Should be required reading for scholars in sexuality/queer studies, womens and gender studies, social studies of science and cultural studies. . . . Essential." (Choice) "While nearly every point she makes about the hidden significance of sperm is a home run, ultimately, this is an academic sociological study written in an appropriately starchy style. . . . [that] results in a fascinating read packed with conclusions." (City Paper)