I have to say that given the cover of this book, and the title, I was expecting the book to be more…tongue in cheek? But this book isn’t that. Rather than being a fun “backstory” of our fascination with butts, it’s a pretty straightforward gender and race studies critique of Western pop culture’s fascination with butts. The misdirection is certainly the fault of the publisher, as the author is very clear on the book’s intentions from the Introduction on. 
With that bit of business behind us, here is the review in earnest:
Butts is a good book. Author Heather Radke zooms around in the last few hundred years of history, then zooms up over it all so we can see the common themes, or rather the same theme, over time. The basic idea, as I understand it, is that white Westerners have been both attracted to and repulsed by butts because of the people attached to them. Fascination with butts may have to do with their forbidden-ness, their other-ness, cool-ness, or even the comfort of dehumanizing people with certain shapes of butts.
While there are overarching themes and points throughout the book, Radke makes larger points by dividing the book into (in)famous butts and the persons to whom they belonged, and how they were discussed in context. A few of the sections are on: Sarah Bartmann, Sir Mix-a-Lot, Jennifer Lopez, Miley, Paris & Kim, Beyonce, original twerkers, and even Heather Radke (the author). I’m glad I read the book to learn more about Sarah Bartmann. Do research her, even if you don’t read this book.
As I read through this, I was reminded of Christy Harrison’s Anti-Diet several times because of all of the lightbulbs that went on because of the authors’ cultural history detective work. The book doesn’t solve cultural or individual body issues, but it does name some of those issues. And having a vocabulary is helpful.
Just don’t go in expecting to have fun.
