Radke’s insertion of her own experiences often casts her as an enthusiastic, earnest guide, but in certain sections, it serves only to underscore the often tame nature of her investigation. She was captured and forced to perform as a fetishized specimen (“Hottentot Venus”) whose large butt represented a European “fantasy of African hypersexuality.” “Norma” was fashioned by American eugenics in 1945 to represent the so-called “normal” American female body: fertile and “native-born white.” Having codified a staggering amount of information, the author relays her research coherently, but her language and sentence structures are repetitive, even tedious. The section titled “Sarah” refers to Sarah Baartman, born into the Khoe tribe, in present-day South Africa, in the late 1770s.

“Women’s butts,” writes Radke, a contributing editor and reporter at NPR’s Radiolab, “have been used as a means to create and reinforce racial hierarchies, as a barometer for the virtues of hard work, and as a measure of sexual desire and availability.” Following the introduction, the author divides the book into seven sections and accompanying subsections. What appears initially as a folly with a look-at-this cover and title becomes, thanks to Radke’s intelligence and curiosity, something much meatier, entertaining and wise.A thorough uncovering of the symbolism, history, and significance of the female posterior in Western culture. Like many recent book introductions, it’s a lot of tell, not show, and reads like a tacked-on exercise that dilutes the book’s intention and intelligence.

The book’s introduction is weak and gratuitous, littered with quotes from unnamed women that feel forced. She’s smart about social history but falters when she gets personal, indulging feelings about her own rear and dating history that add little beyond dulling her feminist and modern take. Radke proves a witty, incisive observer, particularly when she steers clear of academic jargon. Radke is an eager, inventive reporter, relishing her search into greater understanding of why so many women, starting with herself, have such complicated relationships with their rears. Her interest lies in glutei maximi that tend toward maximal. Though curious and wide-ranging in her investigation, Radke chose to leave some behinds behind.

Butts a backstory heather radke