Private Parts: An Owner's Guide to the Male Anatomy. Rev. ed.

Ian C. Nelson is assistant director of libraries at the University of
Saskatchewan, and président de la Troupe du Jour, Regina Summer Stage.

The author of this no-nonsense guide to genitourological health sums up
the need for this book as follows: “educated, intelligent people
become inconsistent and irrational when they have to deal with [the]
health problems of their private parts.”

To help male readers understand the health issues that affect their
female partners, the author (who is Program Director of Urology at
McGill University) spans further afield to give explanations of cognate
female health concerns. It is astounding, however, that he dwells more
on hormone treatments for female menopause and on the surgical
techniques of sex change than on the almost universal practice of
masturbation. The book is similarly sketchy on the topics of AIDS and
hepatitis, and while prostate problems receive extensive coverage, male
breast cancer is not addressed. Even more surprising, given the book’s
concentration on sexual matters, are the short shrift given to condoms
and the exclusion of “homosexual” and “gay” from the index.

The doctor has an unfortunate habit of giving a startling description
and possible diagnosis only to admit that the condition in question is
extremely rare and that he has never encountered it in extensive years
of practice; he then goes on to offer more plausible explanations and
diagnoses. In an apparent approximation of the “personal touch,” the
doctor makes occasional attempts at humor, and the results are
appalling. The book gives the address for a Web site where, for a fee,
readers can obtain further information about urological problems.