One of the first books I read specifically because I heard about it on the Joe Rogan podcast was Sex at Dawn. The author of the book, Christopher Ryan, was the guest on the podcast and he was the real selling point. This was way back in 2013 (JRE episode 306 in case you’re interested), so I wasn’t too sure about spending 20 bucks on a book based on the recommendation of a podcaster named Joe Rogan.
At that point, he was an unknown quantity to me. But having the author on and talk about the book, that was a great selling point for me. Not only is Ryan a laid-back and cool guy, it was his story that really sold the book. He has travelled the world, lived abroad in Spain for many years, and been a sort of vagabond that was really intriguing to me.
Sex at Dawn is a book that really challenges the concepts and long-held beliefs that we have on long term relationships. This book is a must read for any person that wants to understand more about relationships. This book is one of the most talked about books on the JRE podcast, as the author has been a guest on the podcast over a dozen times. Every episode is entertaining, as well. They are well worth the listen. Chris Ryan is a great guest and his laid-back attitude gels well with Rogan’s personality.
From the flap of the book:
Since Darwin's day, we've been told that sexual monogamy comes naturally to our species. Mainstream science--as well as religious and cultural institutions--has maintained that men and women evolved in families in which a man's possessions and protection were exchanged for a woman's fertility and fidelity. But this narrative is collapsing. Fewer and fewer couples are getting married, and divorce rates keep climbing as adultery and flagging libido drag down even seemingly solid marriages. How can reality be reconciled with the accepted narrative? It can't be, according to renegade thinkers Christopher Ryan. While debunking almost everything we "know" about sex, they offer a bold alternative explanation in this provocative and brilliant book.
What reader’s are saying:
Sex at Dawn is now one of my favorite books. I, like many others, am not interested in the completely open, devil-may-care marriage that many will likely assume this book promotes. However, like many men, I have been pretty ruthlessly, "cheated on," and I have also been subject to the will to cheat. This book quite comfortably outlines many of the reasons I had previously thought were simply personal justifications, and it is indeed a relief to understand why those feelings are so strong despite my best efforts. My favorite thing about this book is that it is undeniably fair in its thorough description of the opposing viewpoint, often taking several pages to illustrate the full range of currently accepted views. What makes this book ring true is that it often takes only one sentence or one paragraph to make the reader see what they already knew; that it doesn't make sense. If I could make one complaint, and that is difficult, it is that I wish it was longer. There were several blind spots left due to lack of space that I would have liked to explore with the same depth and painstaking research citation as the rest of the book. Very good read that will seem to stand as almost obvious to anyone who has put seriously honest thought into sexuality and human relationships. Excellent work that I would recommend to anyone of a sexual age who feels chafed, or unchanged as it were, by expectations they find uncomfortable and unrealistic.