It's a book that's intended to change the way you think about activity. Like Robert Anton Wilson, he's aiming for head-change. He roams freely ("bushily" he calls it) through medicine, anthropology, archeology, psychology, and any other branch of knowledge you want to name, to paint a picture of how Homo Sapien's evolutionary history has primed us to move and play, and how honoring the programming of our past can lead to better health and better lives.
It is not hardcore science. He cites various studies throughout, but then speculates and spirals out. Phrases like "it's reasonable to assume" or "we can guess that" occur throughout. I don't see this as a problem; the book is meant to inspire speculation as well as movement.
It is not a coherent whole, but a set of individual essays on various aspects of the central theme. Many are excellent, a few seem pointless, like his speculations on when in evolutionary history "play" evolved. Who cares? (Although to be fair, that chapter contains the sub-heading "Jurassic Beaver," which is quite possibly the most awesome phrase ever put to paper.)
It is not an "exercise book" or program guide. His recommendations for movement are the sort of over-arching ideas that you would use to direct your whole life's approach to fitness, not for a specific goal. He freely admits that his "bonobo model" of physical education will NOT produce champion athletes of the highest caliber. For that you need to follow the "chimp model." You all already know that one: GPP SPP periodization times sets reps specialization competition etc etc.
I think most IGXers will be surprised at how many of his ideas sound familiar. We've run into them, from other sources and from other directions. His chapter on the dangers of "stretching without strength" could have been taken from Pavel's "Relax Into Stretch" or "Beyond Stretching." Writing about back pain he sounds like Sarno. What he has to say about long-distance cardio (don't) will be familiar, even without nasty pics of runners soiling themselves or data about C-reactive protein. And his views on the importance of intense, brief, infrequent stress, vs. the chronic kind that kills you, is something that I've been plugging for a long while. (He agrees with me, so it's obvious the man is a genius.)
This is a book that makes you want to get outside and roll around in the dirt, chase your kids, publicly embarrass yourself on playgrounds, and then take a nap.
I will be rereading it at random for a long while, and if I lost my copy today, I would replace it. I really can't think of a better recommendation than that.
When it comes to making our bodies healthier and happier, the most important element is vigorous, frequent participation and authentic physical experience. Period. All other considerations are secondary.
