Great Moments in Sex [Paperback]

Cheryl Rilly (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 10, 1999

Over  1,000 Eye-Opening Entries about the People, Gadgets, Literature, Songs, Movies, Advertisements, and Other Fascinating Facts, Follies, and Foibles in Sexual History

Get ready to enjoy a lively, funny, sometimes shocking, and always fascinating treatment of a subject you were just thinking about anyway!

Great Moments in Sex is an entertaining romp through the history of sex--from ancient times to the era of Viagra and Monica Lewinsky -- complete with the gadgets, people, literature, songs, advertisements, movies, and events associated with all things sexual.

At any given moment, any given person is more likely to be thinking about sex than about anything else. It makes us who we are and it determines what we do. It's the bane, the pain, the pleasure of our existence. If history has proved anything, it's that there's just no rational way to deal with sex--and this book is a fun and fascinating review of the absurd, amazing, bewildering, frightening, and altogether irrational ways we have dealt with it throughout time.

Great Moments in Sex chronicles the whole libidinous, lascivious, and just plain loony story: the tools we've used, the laws we've made, the so-called expert advice from Aristotle to The Joy of Sex, the attempts to repress sex, and the infinitely varied ways it has popped up anyway.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Over1,000 Eye-Opening Entries about the People, Gadgets, Literature, Songs, Movies, Advertisements, and Other Fascinating Facts, Follies, and Foibles in Sexual History

Get ready to enjoy a lively, funny, sometimes shocking, and always fascinating treatment of a subject you were just thinking about anyway!

Great Moments in Sex is an entertaining romp through the history of sex--from ancient times to the era of Viagra and Monica Lewinsky -- complete with the gadgets, people, literature, songs, advertisements, movies, and events associated with all things sexual.

At any given moment, any given person is more likely to be thinking about sex than about anything else. It makes us who we are and it determines what we do. It's the bane, the pain, the pleasure of our existence. If history has proved anything, it's that there's just no rational way to deal with sex--and this book is a fun and fascinating review of the absurd, amazing, bewildering, frightening, and altogether irrational ways we have dealt with it throughout time.

Great Moments in Sex chronicles the whole libidinous, lascivious, and just plain loony story: the tools we've used, the laws we've made, the so-called expert advice from Aristotle to The Joy of Sex, the attempts to repress sex, and the infinitely varied ways it has popped up anyway.

About the Author

Cheryl Rilly was the publisher, editor, and writer of Airlines, a monthly comedy information service for broadcast personalities. She lives in New Baltimore, Michigan.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (August 10, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609802437
• ISBN-13: 978-0609802434
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,441,220 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you never knew about sex nor who to a ask!, September 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Great Moments in Sex (Paperback)

This book could have been called "The Rise and Fall of Human Sexuality" - reading this book I'm amazed how far (down) we've come in our tolerance for sexual expression. The simple fact that it took so long for someone to finally write a wonderful book like this is proof enough. Full of facts and trivia about sex through the centuries (or should I say millennia? Actually it goes even farther back than that, but I don't know the word for a 1,000,000 year period... A micronium?) this book will really open your eyes to what the Romans, Egyptians, and people of other cultures and times thought of as "acceptable" sex. I'll bet you anything that it's not what you think or expect... Wonderfully penned, with wit and style, this book is a joy to read (it's especially enjoyable reading it in bed out-loud to your significant other...) and I highly recommend it to anyone who's ever had sex or was the product of it. I think that includes just about everyone... :)

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Factual and Witty, how's that for a book combination!, September 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Great Moments in Sex (Paperback)

A great sit down book, I wasn't looking for the great novel, just an entertaining book. I was pleasantly surprised when I found it was loaded with facts also. It's easy to jump around from chapter and page enjoying the wit and discovering new facts as I go.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More like 4-1/2, because I'm picky, but this is a great book, March 28, 2003

By 

Melanie C. Gibson "Baroness of Books" (Mooresville, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Great Moments in Sex (Paperback)

This book was such a fun, eye opening read. The facts are laid out in order of when they happened(granted, a margin of error has to be applied to some.) They are catorgerized in chapters such as "Turn-on's and Turn-off's" and " The Tools", and also grouped under heading such as " You use it, you lose it" and "Sometimes you CAN try to hard". All and all, this book is well put together, researched, and very fun and easy to read. Did you know that there were brothels for women to enjoy men? Well, read this book and you'll find out!!!!

Now, here comes the picky part. The only glaring fact in this book, that I know to be untrue is: Henry VIII had Syphilis! Henry VIII DID NOT HAVE SYPHILIS!!!!! I have studied this man and his wives for years, and read many, many old and new bio's on them. The most popular, and common cure for this disease for centuries was mercury. Of course, mercury is deadley and the cure was often worse (death) then living with the disease. But, in the annuls of history, there has never been any physical indication that Henry had syphilis, or mercury poisioning (which would have occured if he had taken "the cure".) He lived to be nearly 57, an old age at that time (he did have health problems, including a very badly infected leg begining in his late 30's. But nothing that would lead anyone to think he had syphilis) and had ruled for 38 of those years. Syphilis is also a disease that is easily transfered to ones spouse and children. But, none (even before Anne and Kat's beheading's) of his wives ever showed any signs of the disease or the repercusions of the cure. Nor did his three legitament children, and his bastard son by Bessy Blout(for that matter, neither did his mistresses, Bess or Anne's sister Mary.) Queen Mary I died of cancer in her 40's, but never had it, Elizabeth I reigned for nearly 45 years and never showed any health issues that would result from parental transfer, and Edward died of TB, having never been a strong child (but not as a result of parental transfer syphilis.

It has been a common rumor for years that Henry had it, only because most men at this time did pick it up from prostitues and transfer it to wives and children. But, Henry never showed signs of it or mercury posioning to cure it. Now, it is true when the author says Francois I of France had it, but that's another story!!!!