Customer Reviews

Designer Sex (Booklets)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The reviewer below is correct that Designer Sex is a chapter lifted from Yancey's Rumors of Another World. However, I found that chapter to be the most powerful in a book of consistently mind-blowing writing, so based purely on the material alone it deserves the highest rating. I strongly recommend Rumors, if only to give further context to Designer Sex, but if you're strapped for cash and need a book that can tell you more than how to wait, but why to wait; that is not paralyzed by the fear of lust that pervades most other Christian writings on the topic; and that can mold your relationships and your life into alignment with God's pleasure, $1.50 ain't bad.

If you're looking to add another Yancey title to your library and your amazon.com search brings this title up, look closer. First, notice how surprisingly cheap it is. Then, notice the dimensions. That's right, it's $1.50 and about the size of a tract. At this point, question your decision to buy it.

Then, if, based on the low price, you decide to buy it anyway, you'll probably find yourself reading something that seems very familiar. At first, you can't quite place it. Then, it keeps getting more familiar until you stumble across a key phrase that sends you turning back to the copyright page. There, you learn that this little booklet is 'taken with permission from Rumors of Another World.' A quick trip to your bookshelf and a glance at the table of contents verifies that it's nothing more than an excerpted chapter from Rumors.

Essentially, this book is another publisher's ploy to make a quick buck (and not much more than that!) on people who don't look closely enough at things before they buy them (or put them on their wish list and have other people buy them). If you see this title and are interested, go buy Rumors. Don't waste your $1.50 (plus shipping!) on this 32-page ploy.

I think "Rumors of Another World" is one of Yancey's finest. I devoured it in a few days spent doing nothing else. And Designer Sex is one of the most thought provoking chapters there--I have referred back to it many times. Each chapter of this book could be read independently, ditto "Soul Survivor". Why not publish it independently? Many people I know sadly aren't readers, but could benefit greatly from this "tract," and probably would be more inclined to read it than if given the whole book.

This is a small booklet taken from Yancy's larger work, Rumors of Another World. It is rich in content, as anything written by Yancy would be. He begins by asking why sex plays so large in America than in some small village in the Amazon where the locals wear nothing at all.

In answering, Yancy seeks to recover a view of six that corresponds to God's original design. He looks at desire, purity, romance, sex, and marriage as he seeks to describe that original design. He draws from many sources to build his case, including C.S. Lewis, Martin Luther, and Flannery O'Connor.

Final Note: Telephone and Online Counseling may be a great way to help couples and individuals struggling with sexuality issues. Learn to Provide Telephone and Online Counseling with this book: The Therapist's Clinical Guide to Online Counseling and Telephone Counseling: The Definitive Training Guide for Clinical Practice

The article by Yancey was good, but it is also found in Rumor's of Another World. I would have been better off to buy Rumor's of another World.

I'm referring to a couple other reviewer's comments on this being a chapter from another book. Yes, this is a chapter from Yancey's book, "Rumors of Another World". I am a professor and for me this is a helpful thing. I want my students to read a variety of sources but not to have to invest in lots of books for one course. I look for resources like this that has a specific focus and is much less expensive for the students. Also, since more and more of our culture wants a fast read or don't want to read at all, I can hand a person a little booklet like this and they will read it.
This is a great book and looks at sexuality in a different way than you will see in movies, music, and billboards in today's culture. Yancey is "right on" and I applaud what he has to say. Read what he has to say, whether in the book or the booklet and you will be challenged in a new way!

the book was in perfect condition and it came in a timely manner, thank you!