Best Sex Writing 2008

I was fairly sure that I was going to enjoy ‘Best Sex Writing 2008’. What I didn’t expect was that I would really enjoy it – so much that I read all twenty-one articles in a little over 48 hours.

(While I’m a voracious reader, it’s generally fiction that I delight in losing myself in, whipping through a large novel in a day or two. Non-fiction, on the other hand, is something I savour, taste in small portions – where a month of lunchtimes will take me from beginning to end).

“Sex… one little word. so many interpretations, definitions, permutations.” (from the Introduction by Rachel Kramer Bussel)

Rachel has done an amazing job as editor, using broad interpretations and definitions of sex and sexuality to provide the reader with a great variety of sexy journalism. Each article is – very definitely – about sex, but the diversity is immense. As a sex blogger, sex haver, and sex fascinator, I thought I knew a fair bit. This book proves me wrong, in the nicest way possible! Each article taught me something new. Sometimes it was something as large as the entire topic of the article, sometimes it was a perception (permutation?) that had not occurred to me, sitting in my corner of the sexual world.

Articles that I found the most intriguing ran the gamut from fascinating to disturbing. Ashlea Halpern’s ‘Battle of the Sexless’ describes wince-inducing self-castration, but also digs into why the desire to become sexless is regarded with derision in a culture where it take balls to be a man. ‘Sex in Iran’, by Pari Esfandiari and Richard Buskin, chronicles the reactions to a local celebrity sex-tape scandals in Iran, which cannot help but be contrasted with reactions to similar tapes in the United States. Paul Fiesta has a personal stake in ‘How Insensitive’, where he delves into research about circumcision, and how it may impact the sensitivity of the penis and the resulting sexual pleasure. And Trixie Fontaine pushes boundaries by discussing the still-hidden eroticism of blood in ‘Menstruation: Porn’s Last Taboo’.

What appeals to each reader will be different. Some articles will open new avenues of sexual meaning, while others might leave you depressed by cultural attitudes and reactions. What is certain, however, is that out of twenty-one articles, most – if not all – will surely teach, enlighten, and cause you to think. They are, absolutely, the best sex writings of 2008.