Books like Breasts by Florence Williams

In *Musicophilia* Oliver Sacks explores how music shapes our brains, drawing on case studies of patients with neurological disorders and everyday listeners to reveal the science and magic behind our love of sound.

Tim Wu examines the evolution of attention harvesting—from early advertising to digital algorithms—exploring how the pursuit of human focus reshapes society, culture, and commerce.

College professor David Kepesh transforms into a malignant 155‑pound breast and must convince the world he is mentally ill.

An American linguist in England examines the rivalry and interplay between British and American English, uncovering how cultural biases shape our attitudes toward the language.

A blend of literary history, lore, and early scientific exploration that traces the origins of the greatest horror story of all time

A comprehensive study tracing the breast’s evolving role and symbolism in Western culture—from ancient perceptions, religious meanings, and artistic depictions to medical, psychoanalytic, and social interpretations in modern times.

Richard Rodriguez’s memoir "Brown" examines the complex role of Hispanic identity in America’s history, exploring race, culture, and psychological dimensions of belonging across generations.

In this groundbreaking "cultural history of psychotherapy," historian and psychologist Philip Cushman shows how the development of modern psychotherapy is inextricably intertwined with that of the United States and how it has fundamentally changed the way Americans view events and themselves. Using an interpretive historical approach, Cushman shows how and why psychotherapy was created, what its functions are, and how it has come to play such an enormous role in American life. Asserting that each era develops a different conception of "what it means to be human," Cushman traces the evolution of the self throughout history to contemporary times, naming its current configuration in our consumerist society the "empty self," one that needs constant filling. In Constructing the Self, Constructing America, he places psychotherapy in its social and historical context, and examines its origins in the nineteenth century to its preeminence in American life today, arguing that its establishment as a social institution may in fact reproduce some of the very ills that it is meant to heal. Finally, in an unusual move, Cushman suggests a way to use interpretive methods in the everyday practice of psychotherapy. By doing so, he hopes to dissuade both patient and therapist from colluding with the empty self or the rampant consumerism of our time.

Fetish explores how changing attitudes toward sex and gender have shaped fashion, drawing on history, psychology, and interviews to examine the rise of fetish garments and their role in identity and power.

A detailed biography of the last stand against war, examining the key figures and ideals that shaped an era.

Born exiled in Zambia, Sisonke Msimang chronicles her nomadic childhood, political awakening across Africa and America, and return to a new South Africa, wrestling with identity, racism and the new elite.