Pre-order at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, IndieBound.

“They say you never forget your first kiss—it sears itself into your memory; The Science of Kissing will no doubt do something similar. From the neurology of smooching to practical tips on locking lips, Sheril Kirshenbaum makes reading about this strange and fascinating practice almost as much fun as doing it.”

~ Sam Kean, New York Times-bestselling author of The Disappearing Spoon

“In the vein of Stephen Pinker’s The Language Instinct, scientist Kirshenbaum examines one of humanity’s fondest pastimes [writing] just as gracefully about prostitutes in pop culture as she does the myriad of complicated biological and chemical processes that science uses to explain osculation.”

~ Publishers Weekly

“Turns out there’s a lot more to kissing than you might think..Kirshenbaum draws on psychology, biology, history, and other disciplines in this highly engaging, highly informative book.”

~ Booklist

“If you fear that knowing the science of kissing will unweave the poetry of it, fear not. This engaging book, chock-a-block with eye-popping science and fun stories not only makes for great reading but plumps up the pleasure of a smooch itself. You’ll never think of kissing—what e.e. cummings called “a better fate than wisdom”—in the same way again.”

~ Jennifer Ackerman, author of
Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream: A Day in the Life of Your Body

“Sheril Kirshenbaum gives you everything you wanted to know about this wonderful way we use our mouths. If you’ve ever wondered why we kiss under the mistletoe, or why two out of three people tilt their heads to the right when they zoom in for a kiss, Kirshenbaum will tell you, in a way that is witty, wise, and pucker-perfect.”

~ Robin Marantz Henig, contributing writer, The New York Times Magazine

The dashing and talented Seth Mnookin—author of the upcoming smash hit The Panic Virus—is holding a contest surrounding my new book.

Sheril Kirshenenbaum’s The Science of Kissing — a great book with arguably the cover/title of the year — was published today. For anyone who has ever made snap judgments based on the books people are reading on the train/subway/bus/plane — well, think of all the possibilities if someone saw you reading this:

In addition to being a great book, The Science of Kissing is also the first book published this year by a ScienceOnline 2011 author. (I believe the second one is coming out in a week. I’ll give you a hint as to what it is: the author’s last name begins with the 13th, 14th, and 15th letters of the alphabet.) You don’t need to take my word for it — you can check out Greg Laden’s ScienceBlogs review, which contains this awesome line:

“The Science of Kissing: What Our Lips Are Telling Us, a new book by Sheril Kirshenbaum has a bunch more about kissing, and is a must read for anyone who wants to try out kissing (you may like it) and keep it scientific.”

In honor of Sheril’s achievement, I’m going to offer a free book by any single one of the SciO11 authors to the person who gives the best one paragraph explanation for why they liked The Science of Kissing. You don’t even need to select The Panic Virus! (A list of authors is here — and there are lots of good ones to choose from.)

Here are the rules: You need to actually buy TSoK — this part works on the honor system. You need to explain why you liked it in the comments (here). You need to do all of this by next Thursday, January 13th, which is the start of the conference.

Happy reading/smooching!