Customer Reviews

The Naughty Bits: The Steamiest and Most Scandalous Sex Scenes from the World's Great Books

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I bought the book par hasard yesterday while waiting for my husband in a bookshop in Taipei. I justified it with a line Mr Murnighan quoted to justify his book: "let me be read ... by the gentle girl who longs to please her new-made spouse." My husband was embarassed that I would soon be reading a book with the title "The Naughty Bits" and he tried to the denigrate the possibility that it could be a good book - I mean, a book that chopped up classics and took important scenes out of their context purely for sexual titillation! I was swayed by his argument so I read on to make my mind up. The excerpt that I randomly choose to read by Philip Roth confirmed I shouldn't put this gem of a book down. It wasn't that it was on how to aplease my impatient and incredulous husband, (in fact it was about a guy mastabating into a baseball mitt somewhere in America), but the piece was so hilarious, the writing so exhilarating and it delighted me so, that shedding all the foreboding in my heart, I ran with it to the cash register.

Yes, this book is not a collection of Jackie Collins and Anais Nin clippings gathered into a convenient format that saves the reader from flipping through the boring bits - this book is so much more! The short introductions by Mr Murnighan are so insightful and funny, and from them I have gleaned much about writers that I always wanted to read or know more about simply because their names are so big in the world of literature. Too tired to read last night, I just scanned his intros to read what he thinks of one writer from another. Also they (the intros) leave me giggling as they are an honest look at things people don't normally talk about or think about, but do. The excerpts need more time to digest; although some left me with a "huh?", others have me wanting to read the full book. Thanks for providing me with a new list of books for the next few months! Oh! And my husband is won over too, as I kept leaning over and reading to him funny lines and "look the author likes Charles Bukowski too!"

Mr Murnighan is obviously very learned, and it's refreshing that he seems to be close to my generation (Vanilla Ice posters ha ha) and includes medieval works as well as more contemporary items such as the Kenneth Starr report!

Anyway, I haven't finished the book yet, but I wished Mr Murnighan wrote more than erotica, as he seems such a fine writer that it would be a shame to limit himself, and also might he write more than just editing and collecting?

Perfect beach read. In this great book no more rummaging through pages of your favorite books just to get to the juicy scenes, they have all been compiled into one delicous book that is sure to please all of its readers.

I couldn't put this book down. Mr. Murningham has captured enthralling scenes from some of the best classics out there. I was excited, aroused, entertained and educated - all at once.
Read it, then flip back to page one and read it again.

A great round-up of the best (and spiciest) bits of world literature. For every reader out there who loves books here's a fun read that brings the two of them together with humor and savvy. Highly recommended!

The only Naughty Bits in this book is the cover. If this book was written in the 1890's it might be considered naughty. But the is no stories in this book just a few paragraphs, that really say nothing. If your looking for something similar I would recommend The Story of O

The are no naughty bits in this book, unless you live in the 1950's.

This yuppie-porn is supposed to titilate. But underneath it lurks a cleverly concealed neo-fascist agenda. Especially hurtful were the comments blaming ZOG for the "earthquake machine". As Abel Dickstein likes to say, "6.9 is not enough."