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Article: Birthday suit: what you want to know about the organ that tells all.(Skin: A Natural History)(Book review)
- Article from:
- American Scholar
- Article date:
- September 22, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Phi Beta Kappa Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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SKIN A Natural History By Nina G. Joblonski University of California Press | $24.95
Not long ago I was backpacking through the majestic Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho, feeling fit and fine and in the first blush of peacock as I bounced downhill at the head of our party of four. But it is a short hop from swagger to stagger, and so it was that, just as I reached the trail's end, my foot caught in a tree root and I went flying toward the ground. With my 35-pound pack augmenting the forward momentum, I had no choice but to land flat on my belly and then crack my forehead against a rock for good measure.
Several weeks later, the aches and pains are long gone, ...