Reviews for A history of celibacy

The average rating for A history of celibacy based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-07-06 00:00:00 Nicole Mcgonigal Highly disappointing. Before having read this book I might have thought calling a book “deeply shallow” was silly, but that’s the only way to describe this book. The author has a lot to say about celibacy, and yet, she also has *nothing* to say about celibacy. This book has no thesis, it is about 400 odd pages of anecdotes and generalities about celibacy in different times and places, heavy emphasis on the Christian varieties, but just observation without argument. The most the author is willing to commit herself to about celibacy is that it exists. She alternates between clearly holding her nose while writing about some instances of celibacy, and treating the rest with a salacious Cracked.com “History’s 10 Weirdest Asexuals” angle. Also, it’s less cited than Cracked.com. The endnotes are is a mess. The eunuch/castrato section is so unbelievably botched I can’t take her on good faith for any of the other historical areas. The non-Christian examples I am particularly concerned with, because I don’t feel she has done the depth of research required to have a fair cultural understanding, other than her own culture perhaps, but that I’m even leery about. As a bonus: while claiming the forward and the endword to be completely neutral on celibacy, in the end chapter she did not bother to disguise her contempt for celibacy decisions made at Vatican II.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-09-10 00:00:00 Blayne Haubrich This book has an interesting topic but the chronological, superficial treatment makes me think of it more as an encyclopedia of celibacy. It's a useful starting point but lacks a driving argument or deep analysis.