Book review: Animal: The Autobiography Of A Female Body by Sara Pascoe

Are we human, or animal? Well, a bit of both according to Sara Pascoe. Her literary debut takes an intelligent look at behaviour and evolutionary characteristics, and asks whether our genetic make-up or cultural background defines our gender and sexuality.

It’s a bold move for a comedian to release a semi-biographical memoir which offers such scientific detail – realistically we open celeb-written puff-pieces expecting fluffy, self-indulgence which aims to be the Christmas bestseller, or gather column inches (yes, My Booky Wook, we’re looking at you).

In contrast, Pascoe has written a truly intelligent, interesting and well-balanced ‘Autobiography of a Female Body’ which uses wit to soften the blow on the scientific prose.

And that’s a wonderful thing – however you should venture into reading armed with the knowledge that this is not the light read you might expect.

It’s a funny, frank exploration of human behaviour, and an absolute delight.

Published by Faber & Faber