Customer Reviews

The Delight of Hearts: Or What You Will Not Find in Any Book

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this is the sort of thing you'll like.

Back in the 1200s or so, a curious book was written

about sexual mores and manners in cosmopolitan,

urbane Muslim society. Much MUCH later, it was

translated into French. Somewhat later, the

French version was translated into English. This

accounts for occasional awkwardnesses, but overall

this is quite readable.

As Gay Sunshine Press is known for books of gay/lesbian

interest (duh), this book has been edited to emphasize

the sections of interest to that reading population.

To be frank, most of this is of limited general interest;

a recitation of jokes and snapqueen insults traded by

people who lived almost a thousand years ago is of

necessity a minority taste. The very idea that a

given society had a recognized homosexual subculture

that long ago is a big part of this book's appeal.

There are a number of anecdotes and stories that

give one a fair impression of this subculture.

All in all, I'm glad I have this book.

This is an English translation by the late E. A. Lacey, based on the French translation by the late Rene Khawam, of a book called Les Delices des Coeurs. But this is only half the book. The other half consists of heterosexual anecdotes. The Khawam book was brought to the publisher's attention (Winston Leyland) by Stephen Wayne Foster, but Foster is not given credit in the book. Khawam invited Foster to translate the heterosexual half, but this was not done.

The book is full of amusing anecdotes and gives us a great view of medieval Arab homosexuality.