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The original
Joy of Sex, published in 1979, became the lovemaking guide to intimate discovery and experimentation for a generation of adults. This updated, 30th-anniversary edition is a gorgeous, sensual book that will delight lovers, whether they're discovering sex or renewing passion. Purple print on pale pink and soft lilac pages lend a sensual air before you even start reading. Beautiful drawings (and a few color photographs) of young, smiling, coupling couples (heterosexual only) serve to graphically illustrate sexual positions and interactions. The facial expressions convey affection and tenderness as much as passion.
The nonjudgmental, gentle tone, aimed at both novice love makers and those looking to expand their sensual play, is lyrical and not at all sleazy. The updated content includes safe sex cautions and a section about AIDS. True, this new edition isn't updated enough to seem particularly "new" to readers who came of age with the original edition. The content is still exclusively heterosexual. Surprisingly, vibrators merit only one paragraph (while "foursomes and moresomes" get a full page), and lubricants are treated dismissively. But this book will appeal to a whole new generation of readers, and even readers who still own a lop-eared, 30-year-old Joy of Sex will find sensual sparks rekindled with this lovely new edition. --Joan Price
From Publishers Weekly
Physician and acclaimed human sexuality expert Comfort, who died in 2000, covered sexual liberation 30 years ago with his landmark book, The Joy of Sex. In this revised edition, other than titillating illustrations of a post-millennium couple (say goodbye to the bearded satyr of old) and a certain cheeky charm, there's not much new under the bedroom blanket. Although the book offers plenty of graphic suggestions, few will look daring or new to contemporary readers. (There's a lot of harmless, kooky stuff, though: "playing at horses," for example, or the "Viennese oyster" position.) Comfort's comparison of sexual satisfaction to a full-course meal feels a bit like yesterday's leftovers, and he's not shy about pushing his personal taste either: "Armpit. Classical site for kisses. Should on no account be shaved." Comfort issues warnings about sexually transmitted diseases with the usual suggestions for protection, and some surprising cautions: "Never blow into the vagina," he writes. "This trick can cause air embolism and has caused sudden death." If new information is what readers are after, this revision probably won't do the trick, but for anyone whose 1972 copy is getting a little rough around the edges, here's a perfect excuse to get a new one. 20 full-color photographs, 80 line illustrations.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
