When an unexpected medical crisis sends Naomi Wolf, author of the enduring feminist classic The Beauty Myth, on a deeply personal journey to tease out the intersections between sex and creativity, she discovers an increasing body of evidence that suggests that the vagina is not merely flesh, but is an intrinsic component of the female brain. In Vagina: A Cultural Exploration, a brilliant and nuanced synthesis of physiology, history, and culture, Wolf sets out to explore the physical, political, and spiritual implications for women and for society as a whole of this startling scientific breakthrough.  Utterly enthralling and totally fascinating, Vagina: A Cultural Exploration is a complete revision of the status quo that traces the distance from historical social control of the vagina to contemporary pressures brought to bear on it, from pornography to plastic surgery, deftly weaving in a path toward a radical reclaiming of the body and the self.  An exhilarating and groundbreaking work that combines gripping narrative reportage with rigorous lay science and deeply personal considerations of female identity, Vagina: A Cultural Exploration is a book unlike any other from a mind unlike any other.