RSSThe Genius Factory
August 23rd, 2006 | View Comments
Author: David Plotz
Publisher: Random House
Rating: 
Buy The Genius Factory on Amazon.com
Every parent’s dream is to have a child that is healthy, bright, and good-looking. Robert Graham’s dream was to have a planet of children that were healthy, bright, and good-looking. What if, he wondered, I could, using the magic of masturbation and liquid nitrogen, mate the best men and women from all over the country, and thus produce a generation of perfect children?
The Genius Factory began as a series of articles on Slate.com, collectively known as “Seed”, and tells the tale of the Repository for Germinal Choice, more popularly known as the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank. The bank was started by a man on a mission to improve the quality of human stock (thank god he was a benevolent sort) and, according to Plotz, revolutionized sperm banking as we know it.
I’ve probably never thought or heard this much about sperm in my life, and that includes several biology classes with extensive sections on human reproduction. And while sperm themselves may not be dreadfully exciting little buggers, they do happen to inspire stories that are, in general, quite compelling.
What kind of men get recruited to donate to such a high-falutin’ sperm bank? (Hint: Some of them are not guys you would want dating your daughter.) What do women want in their sperm anyways? (Hint: Geriatric genius sperm probably won’t cut it.) What happens to the children? Are they smart? Do they know of their Nobel destiny? Will any of them one day, say, cure cancer?
My favorite story is that of Donor White and one of the daughters he fathered through the sperm bank. Theirs is the happy face of anonymous sperm donation - a guy who turned out to be all he said he was and a baby that while apparently not a supergenius, still turned out to be her mother’s dream. Other stories are less rosy: I found one to be downright boring, some are sad or bittersweet, and some you could hold up as shining examples of why we shouldn’t mess with Darwin’s natural selection (and then you’d want to march over and kick the guy in the balls, in the hopes that he doesn’t inflict any more damage on the human race).
The Genius Factory is a fast and entertaining read. There are spots where a little more attention to organization and pacing wouldn’t have hurt, but the subject is curious and compelling enough to make you keep going. More information about the book, along with the images and documents printed in the book, are available on the Genius Factory web site.
Buy The Genius Factory on Amazon.com
Yvonne posted this on August 23rd, 2006 @ 7:45pm in Book Reviews | Permalink to "The Genius Factory"
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