Sexual excitement: Dynamics of erotic life [Paperback]

Robert J Stoller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1986

This is a study of sexual excitement. It is the fifth book -perhaps more accurately, the fifth chapter in one work - on masculinity and femininity (gender identity). This is a study of sexual excitement. It is the fifth book - perhaps more accurately, the fifth chapter in one work - on masculinity and femininity (gender identity), carrying forward ideas examined in my last book, Perversion. As many have noted since Freud said it decades ago, it is so difficult to draw a line between excitement one can call "perverse" and normal excitement that the word 'normal' loses definition. - From the Introduction by the Author

The other four books are: 1. Sex and Gender: The Development of Masculinity and Femininity 2. The Transsexual Experiment 3. Splitting: A Case of Female Masculinity 4. Perversion: The Erotic form of Hatred

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 281 pages
• Publisher: American Psychiatric Press (1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 088048263X
• ISBN-13: 978-0880482639
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,434,882 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Groundbreaking psychoanalytic study of the nature of lust, August 30, 2010

By 

R. M. Dreyfus "chiron" (Wynnewood,, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sexual Excitement: Dynamics of Erotic Life (Maresfield Library) (Paperback)

Stoller's views on sexuality have intrigued me since I first encountered his 1976 article "Sexual Excitement"in the 1976 Archives of General Psychiatry published by the AMA. In brief, he posits that "normal" sexual excitement, untainted by overtones of sadism, control, rejection fantasies and other psychological baggage, elicits a pallid, tame level of erotic fever compared to the off-the-charts levels of addictive excitement elicited by these add-ons.

He is highly critical of untested Freudian theory and in this volume details an enlightened view of feminine sexuality (penis envy -humbug!)as well as a perceptive analysis of the dynamics of SM, exhibitionism and other distortions of loving, uncomplicated intimacy. This book is highly recommended for anyone attempting to treat individuals suffering from distorted sexual impulses. If I have a criticism, it would be that he appears to suggest in his writing that loving, truly intimate sex, untainted by at least subtle elements of hostility, is a rarity. I hope he's wrong, but in my thirty years experience as a psychotherapist and friend of many couples who pass as normal, I'm not so sure.