Narrative Non-fiction · Hardback

40 Weeks, A Human Pregnancy and 81 Other Ways to Reproduce

Norwegian title: 40 uker, en menneskegraviditet og 81 andre måter å få barn på

Anna Blix

It takes 40 weeks to grow a human baby. Along the way, the relationship between the foetus and the pregnant woman bears resemblance to that of a parasite and its host. One takes and takes, while the other continue to give, risking their health in the process.

Anna Blix takes the reader on a personal, investigative, and deeply fascinating journey through each of the 40 weeks in a human pregnancy. Parallelly, for each week, we meet other creatures who have just delivered their next generation into the world. The bacteria E. coli has multiplied by two within 20 minutes. An Eastern grey kangaroo is pregnant for just 5 weeks before giving birth to a baby the size of a bean, which then crawls into its pouch to grow. And the birds with the longest incubation period of all, the wandering albatross, is done with their incubation period after only 10 weeks.

Why do we as humans carry our babies inside our bodies for so long, and is there a reason that we are throwing up and feeling nauseous? Are there better ways to reproduce? And does any living creature reproduce in a stranger way than us humans?

This book gives evolutionary comfort throughout the troubles of pregnancy, and an explanation as to how we ended up here: as the smartest species with the most tiresome, but nonetheless not such a bad way to reproduce.

«There is no better literature than great non-fiction. Written by specialists who are unbound by strict terminology or publication pressure, but in a liberal and relaxed language. The biologist, journalist, writer and columnist Blix is incredibly good here. […] the most amazing stories about mating, pregnancy, gender and sexuality.»DAGBLADET, six/six starsExtremely funny about difficult births«.. my judgement is that this is the best book I've read so far this year. The combination of well-written text, a good frame story and incredible facts about weird pregnancies, is simply put a winner. I'm unsure if I'll have the pleasure of reading anything better this year.»AFTENPOSTEN

Anna Blix glows as the feminist David Attenborough«But in Anna Blix's book, the emotionally anchored philosophizing about the drastic life change is non-existent. Here it is about the physical and concrete work, and it is both highly entertaining and educational - and not least a solid feminist work. Rearranged organs, twisted stomach, compressed bladder, flaming heartburn and skeleton sliding apart. Ah, it's a joy to read. (...) Blix is a master at making complex science understandable to regular people.»KLASSEKAMPEN

One of Aftenposten's best books of 2023«This is an incredibly funny book about births in the animal kingdom.»