Diamond, whose more recent work has earned him a Pulitzer Prize, achieves the most unlikely of successes: a literate, often witty exploration of the unlikely divergence of homo sapiens from its closest genetic relatives. Separated by a mere 1.6% of our genetic makeup from chimpanzees, we have somehow managed to evolve into the first species to have developed not one but two means to destroy both itself and its environment. Along the way Diamond explains chimp communication, menopause, and why human men wound up with such, comparatively, large penises. The fact that this all rendered with considerable wit and style guarantees and excellent read.