Born That Way : Genes, Behavior, Personality

Sensibly not regarding the perennial nature-nurture debate as an either/or issue, nonspecialist Wright surveys the last half-century of research used to support the view that human behavior is more genetically than environmentally based. Provocative chapters address the chemistry of self, twin studies, stars of the new field, the short and happy life of the tabula rasa, the Jensen furor over race and IQ, and the possibility of a crime gene. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

In spite of fascinating material and an engaging writing style, Wright (Sins of the Father) is largely unsuccessful in his attempt to portray the current state of the nature-vs.-nurture debate as it pertains to the underlying causes of human behavior. On the positive side, Wright does a fine job of explaining the controversy between those who believe that human behavior is significantly controlled by genetic influences and those opting for the primacy of environmental factors. Similarly, his descriptions of the results, both anecdotal and scientific, of the Minnesota Twin Study of identical twins raised apart and brought back together later in life are compelling, clearly demonstrating the importance of heredity. What detracts greatly from these successes is Wright's relentless attack on those who disagree with his pro-genes position (e.g., "Richard Lewontin, one of the Not in Your Genes authors, who has repeatedly proved he needs no collaborators in his campaign of distortion"). Wright's calling his opponents "gene police," "radical environmentalists" and "genophobes" does nothing to elevate the level of the debate. And while Wright interviews and fully develops the personalities of many of the scientists on the "nature" end of the continuum, he presents caricatures of those on the "nurture" side. Nonetheless, many important public policy questions are touched on in this otherwise useful book.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

An enthusiastic, informative account of the young field of behavioral genetics that could use less of the reporter and more of the subject. Wright (The Von Bulow Affair, 1983; Lillian Hellman, 1986; etc.) acknowledges himself a nonscientist who ``roots'' for the growing view that human behavior is heavily influenced by genes, as against the traditional social science perspective that environment alone is responsible. Though this admission of journalistic bias is refreshing, Wright overdoes it: His repeated attacks on ``genophobes'' begin to sound bullying. To dismiss psychoanalysis by speaking of a ``Freudian-analytic Anschluss'' is not only overstated but unkind, given that Freud was a refugee from the actual Anschluss. Wright is better at expounding the thinking of behavioral geneticists, particularly their complex view of the interaction of environment and heredity, though his account of their research is lopsided. Most of the book's first third is devoted to an engrossing, detailed account of Thomas Bouchard's studies of reared-apart twins. The middle third too hurriedly covers other top researcherssuch as Dean Hamer, whose recent Living with Our Genes (p. 171) is less contentious and better at detailing specific gene-behavior links. The last third gives a polemical account of the historical shift from eugenics to environmentalism to behavioral genetics. Wright's criticisms of intellectually dishonest ``antigene screeds'' are well taken, but the constant jabbing takes up space that could have been filled with more data. In a concluding chapter on the implications of gene-behavior links, he unconvincingly theorizes that knowledge of these links can make people more tolerant. Maybe, but also more patronizing: In a discussion of abortion, Wright characterizes the pro-choice position as rational and high-minded, the pro-life position as a benighted one driven by genes. The book leaves one wishing to hear less from polemicists rooting for or against genes and more from scientists striving to find out exactly what genes do. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Following closely on the heels of Dean Hamer and Peter Copeland's Living with Our Genes (LJ 4/15/98) is another persuasive account of the extent to which genes influence human behavior. Like Hamer and Copeland, Wright summarizes recent research suggesting that genes play a far greater role in our emotional and psychological development than previously imagined. Yet he focuses on the extraordinary obstacles that geneticists and psychologists have faced in conducting, publishing, and defending their research. The author presents an especially detailed account of Bouchard's Minnesota Twin Study, which, because it demonstrates a high degree of similarity between identical twins reared apart, has been extremely controversial with "environmental determinists." Not trained as a scientist, Wright has a background in art and literature and is the author of 12 books. A gifted writer and an astute observer, he has carefully researched the issues and forcefully presented his arguments. While occasionally belaboring the recalcitrance of diehard environmentalists, Wright offers an informative and engrossing account of the fundamental shift in thinking on the nature/nurture issue. This book will nicely complement Hamer and Copeland's work in both public and academic libraries.ALaurie Bartolini, Illinois State Lib., Springfield
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.