Customer Reviews

The Joy of Sex: Fully Revised & Completely Updated for the 21st Century

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I bought the hardcover edition of The Joy of Sex several years ago. This morning I picked it up and read it from cover to cover. I enjoyed it greatly. The new edition is beautifully printed with elegant line drawings and full color photographs. It preserves the quirky charm of the original edition, but this may be its biggest flaw.

Alex Comfort essentialy invented the modern sex manual when he wrote the first edition of The Joy of Sex in 1972. We can thank Comfort's pioneering efforts for the sagging shelves of sex books we enjoy in our bookstores today. Still, some of his advice sounds hopelessly dated. My favorite anachronism is a sexual position he calls the "Negresse." I'm not sure how that made it past the editors. Supposedly "completely updated for the 21st century," the book has a distinctly 70s feel. I find it charming, but some of the other Amazon reviewers don't.

Despite its flaws, this book deserves its status as an enduring classic. Comfort's approach to sex is humane and thoughtful. Reading his descriptions, you get the impression of a sensitive field scientist with a knack for philosophising about human nature. Other sex books get so wrapped up in the mechanics of sex and so enamoured with graphic depections of sex that they lose some of the human perspective. Comfort's book holds on to it tenaciously. A book with a wise and unbothered approach becomes even more welcome at a time when you can see images of every imaginable sexual act on the internet. There are better technical manuals on sex. Read Comfort's book for context and for beautiful drawings. Above all, read it to learn how take your time and savor lovemaking in all its varieties.

this is a good basic to have in the arsenal. the tie-up, teasing trick is still one of the best ever. if one actually read the book, they'd get the hairy armpit thing - it's related to the section on the smell of your lover. take it or leave it, like everything in the book, it's just information. yes, it's hetero sex. no, it doesn't delve into anything extremely spicy - it's a starting point. most people don't start out right off with anal sex or whips and chains. those have their place as well, but this is not it. This is The Joy of Cooking of sex books - a basic starting point with enough so that you can know where you may want to seek more details. or not.

Oh, be nice to this book. You have no idea how much bad sex there was before it was published.

Seriously. Like, Comfort may have underplayed oral sex by today's standards, but he explained how to do it! With pictures and everything! He said it was fun! AND THAT WAS NEWS!

Granted, Alex Comfort liked armpits. But in the meantime, he was implying that you could kiss your sweetie in all kinds of nonstandard places, just because you liked kissing them there. Et cetera and so forth.

It was earthshaking. Epochal. Those were the days when sex was Penis First, Last, and Only, and if that wasn't enough to give a women orgasms, it was her fault. (Honest, people actually said that.) So many things in The Joy of Sex that seem obvious now were revelatory then.

And not only was the book instructive; it had a clean, harmless, friendly vibe that made things less embarrassing, and it sold well. Those two things made other, more sophisticated books about sex a lot easier to publish.

So be grateful. A little, anyway. If The Joy of Sex is out of date, that's a wonderful thing. It means we've come a long way since then. And in the meantime, it's still a nice My First Reader for sexual technique.

This is a new edition of a classic book about human sexuality. It is informative, tastefully written and illustrated, and in no way pornographic. A good book for young couples (or older) who might wish to deepen their understanding of their own sexuality through expert advice and education rather than the cheapness of lesser books or porn.

This is a fantastic item that every couple should own. I owned my first copy when it was in 2 volumes and I was only 17 years old. Unfortunately, I let my ex-fiance keep it when we broke up. I'm delighted that it is still available and up to date.

The seller I went through sent me a quality item in a very short amount of time.

I (obviously) can't be 100% certain, but I think "negresse" is a play on the word "egresse"...meaning "the action or right of going or coming out; exit".

I don't think it has anything to do with race; just 'the back door'.

I had read the previous version of this text MANY years ago. I find the new edition to be insightful, explorative yet in no way judgemental. Although I cannot figure out a way to incorporate this text in to an academic environment (without huge outcries) I feel that it would make an excellent wedding gift to any newly wed couple.

A big selling book back in the days. That's why I purchased it looking forward to the read. I have a lot of books to read ha ha . Take care

Joy of Sex has certainly evolved over the years. The book is very nicely organized appetizers, main course, sauces, etc. and the subdivisions are helpful as it keeps the reader focused on what Mr. Comfort is talking about. A good deal of Comfort's sentences are oddly phrased. One has to re-read several of the passages and really focus to really understand what Comfort is saying. Comfort does give some safety tips especially in the bondage section. Inatersting comments about having a bed for sleeping and one for sex. The 30th Anniversary Edition includes some comments about AIDS and diseease which one should keep in mind. I like the touch of the sketches of sexual interaction especially when dealing with the different positions. Certainly a good resource. My only complaint is Comfort's odd writing style in spots.

The book is informative & I expected it to be, but the writing quality is very disappointing, it's a bunch of incongruent phrases thrown together. I'm not sure to blame the writer or the editor. If it wasn't for the pictures, my fiancee and I wouldn't probably continue with it. There's so many ways to improve this book it's sad that it hasn't been done.