People magazine has said that Jennifer Ackerman is “blessed with a naturalist’s eye for detail and a poet’s soul,” and in SEX SLEEP EAT DRINK DREAM: A Day in the Life of Your Body (Houghton Mifflin, October 2, 2007) Ackerman gives abundant evidence that she possesses both. Indeed, even if she had magically and somehow simultaneously trailed Clarissa Dalloway(of Mrs. Dalloway) and Jack Bauer (of the TV series 24) for a full day, she could not have come up with anything as beautiful or exciting as what she discovered about the human body. It’s cutting-edge science, poetically described.

The body is like a clock — actually, an entire shop of clocks — measuring out the seconds, minutes, days, and seasons of life. Weaving pieces of her own life with that of Everyman’s, Ackerman shows the importance of synchronizing our actions with these biological rhythms — and how defying them can cause us real harm. She’s found an entirely new and original way of looking at how the body works, and how best to work with it. Taking us from the arousal of the senses when we awaken to the reverie of sleep and dreams, she illuminates fascinating facts throughout the day. For example:

	•	You can really tell time in your sleep.
	•	Whether you are by nature a “lark” (early to bed, early to rise) or an “owl” is probably governed by your genes, and may make or break your marriage.
	•	Women have more nightmares than men.
	•	 A man may be able to tell when a woman is ovulating just by looking at her face.
	•	The red you see in your morning strawberries is not, in fact, the red others see.
	•	Just thinking about exercise can increase muscle strength.
	•	The bugs you carry in your belly may help determine your body weight
	•	How much you fidget over the course of a day plays a part in whether you put on pounds from that extra piece of pie