THREE IN LOVE

 

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Traces the menage a trois over the centuries, both in real life and as portrayed in art, and examines the relationships within famous historical trios.

Barbara M. Foster, Michael Foster, and Letha Hadady. Three in Love: Menage a Trois from Ancient to Modern Times. New York, N.Y.: HarperCollins, 1/6/1997. Hardcover. 448 pp. Illus. ISBN-13: 978-062512956.

THE NAKED SOCIETY

 BOOK DESCRIPTION

Originally published in 1964, The Naked Society was the first book to discuss how then-new technologies such as hidden microphones, concealed cameras, modern filing systems, and the polygraph lie detector could be used by government, employers, stores, credit bureaus, security personnel, and other officials to invade our civil liberties. Such activity, which represented the most flagrant of the many assaults upon individual rights, was only part of Vance Packard's truly shocking book, which also considered the ominous implications of loyalty investigations, passport and travel restrictions, and overzealous police actions. In the end, according to Packard, new technologies, manipulated by government and business, were eroding our freedoms, creating a world akin to something out of George Orwell's 1984.

Timelier than ever in today's world, where our civil liberties are under constant threat from technology and the actions of government and business, this all new edition of The Naked Society features an introduction by noted historian Rick Perlstein.

Vance Packard. The Naked Society. Ig Publishing, 7/8/2014. Softcover. 272 pp.

ΒΟΟΚ REVIEW BY MARTY KLEIN OF SEXUAL INTELLIGENCE

 

Book Review: Naked Truth: Strip Clubs, Democracy, And A Christian Right, by Judith Lynne Hanna (2012, University of Texas Press)

Let me tell you why you should care about strip clubs.

Or rather, let me tell you about Judy Hanna’s new book about why should care about strip clubs.

Anthropologist Dr. Judith Hanna is the country’s expert on strip clubs and exotic dance. A tremendous researcher, observer, and writer, she has served as an expert witness in over one hundred cases across the U.S.

Naked Truth is a riveting combination of news stories, fascinating anecdote, articulate analysis, and lessons in our living Constitution. It’s also a chilling expose of exactly how Christian Right activists are using the issue of sexual regulation to undermine democracy and the separation of church and state.

This parallels the very point of my 2006 book America’s War On Sex (2^nd edition now available). My book does have a few pages on exotic dance, along with swing clubs and adult bookstores. Indeed, I consulted Hanna while writing the book’s first edition in 2006. She was a gracious, expert source.

Naked Truth focuses entirely on strip clubs. And with good reason: with few exceptions, just about every American lives within 100 miles of a club. Millions of men spend millions of hours and tens of millions of dollars at such clubs. Some spend the rent money there.

Cities and counties also spend tens of millions of dollars attempting to shut such clubs. Sometimes they’re successful; sometimes they aren’t. But win or lose, these cases are never cheap, in effect spending taxpayer money on attorneys instead of schools and hospitals.

And these cases are rarely wholesome. As Hanna documents, attempts to constrain, close, or prevent strip clubs are typically part of a religiously-based campaign to minimize sexual expression in a community. And that campaign, in turn, is typically part of a broader national movement—supposedly about enhancing morality, or protecting women, or preventing crime, but really about increasing the political power of the Christian Right and imposing religious doctrines on the entire country.

Hanna exposes common myths the Christian Right (and local law enforcement) uses to limit adults’ access to strip clubs: clubs cause crime, they lead to sexual violence, they coerce women into dancing, and they often involve underage dancers and audience members. None of these four common assertions is true. In fact, to rid themselves of strip clubs communities often write emergency ordinances that declare these beliefs to be facts, and therefore not requiring proof. That’s because for the most part there is none.

Whether you’re interested in stripping as an art form (with a long and complex history), as the focus of a long series of Constitutional cases (which Hanna describes in entertaining fashion), or as a case study in the rise of organized religious activism (Roe v Wade, anyone?), you’ll find this book an enjoyable, thought-provoking read.

It’s a great companion to G-Strings and Sympathy, Katherine Frank’s 2002 book about customers’ experiences as strip club regulars. Frank analyzes the psychological dynamics of the patrons, while Hanna analyzes the political dynamics that restrict or prevent patrons’ access to clubs.

Together, they make fascinating reading about an enormous subculture that mainstream society disdains—and, as Hanna documents, ferociously attacks when it can.

BEYOND OPEN MARRIAGE

 BOOK DESCRIPTION

"Beyond Open Marriage" is the authors' attempt to provide an unembellished firsthand account of how some couples in the United States have coped with the problems inherent in creating a new marriage form for themselves, how they have gone beyond the open marriage concept unto an open marriage reality. The interviews presented are authoritative and uncensored accounts of the realities of living an open or group marriage and how some have dealt with the problems of possessiveness and insecurity which naturally arise out of the attempt to break the bond of emotional and sexual non-exclusivity. Although they obviously believe in the validity of open marriage, they have tried to remain somewhat objective and present both the successes and failures of those whom they interviewed. They hope that this book will help the reader to gain a fairly good idea as to whether or not an open or group marriage is possible for him or her. And while none of the life-styles discussed here may be right for all of this book's readers, possibly just the knowledge that such life-styles exist may spur some on to finding their own way of making marriage a living institution that will continue to be relevant in today's society and passed on to those that will follow.

Ulla Anobile & Richard J. Anobile. Beyond Open Marriage. New York, NY: A & W Publishers, Inc., 1/1/1979. Hardcover. 275 pp. ISBN-10: 0-89479-029-3.

The History of Orgies

 

ISBN-13: 978-1983-489860
Writer: Michael Hone
Title: The History of Orgies
Language: English
Place of Publication: N/A
Publisher: JCGtesting.com
Year of Publication: 30/6/2022 [2018]
Format: 153x230mm (trimmed)
Pages: 303
Illustrations: 182 black & white
Binding: paperback in colour printed wrappers
Cover photo: Roman Decadence by Thomas Couture
Weight: 434gr.
Current Price: €17.32 (book €13.14, sales tax €0.98, shipping €3.20)
Supplier: The Book Depository
Order Number: 713295609 [AbeBooks Purchase Order No.: 652548014]
Order Date: 29/6/2022
Order Shipped: 30/6/2022
Order Received: 25/7/2022
Entry Number: 2022011
Entry Date: 25^th July 2022

BOOK DESCRIPTION

As I was preparing material for my book The Bloomsbury Set I came upon the life of one of the Bloomsbury children, Burgo Partridge, and his book A History of Orgies. I had already put aside a great deal of material on the subject of orgies, and inspired by both the title of his book, and the book itself, I realized that there was now far more material on the subject than in 1958 when the book came out, 60 years ago. The story of Burgo began with his mother, Francis Marshall, who loved Lytton Strachey, a homosexual in love with Ralf Partridge. Partridge was bisexual enough to fall in love with Francis and ask her to marry him, which she accepted in the hope of having an easier access to Strachey! This worked, as Strachey not only accompanied the couple on their honeymoon to Venice, but he paid for it, as well as their first home where he was a constant visitor. Strachey's early death brought Frances and Ralph closer together, forming a marriage stronger than most, of whom Burgo was the issue. I was born far later than Burgo but thanks to my research I was with the family while Burgo grew to manhood, a kind of uncle, who shed tears when I learned that Burgo was carried away by a heart attack in 1963 at age 26. As for this volume, my intention is to bring Burgo's book up to date, to add far more material, with far more detail, all thanks to recent research. Ancient Greece and Rome will, of course, have their place, as will the courts of France and England, Germany and Russia, the Belle Époque with Cocteau and Proust, Americana represented by the triumvirate Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote and Gore Vidal, and our own day and those still among us, Alain Delon and film director Xavier Dolan.