Volume 2, Number 7 · May 14, 1964
Tootsie Rolls
By William Styron
Candy
by Terry Southern, by Mason Hoffenberg
Putnam, 224 pp., $5.00
Assuming that we are to use the word in a derogatory sense, any honest definition of pornography must be subjective. For me it reduces itself to that which causes me disgust. (There is also a good kind of pornography, like Fanny Hill, which may give pleasure.) In order fully to appreciate the satire on 'bad' pornography in Terry Southern and Mason Hoffenberg's Candy, it is helpful to dip into some of the aids to erotic enjoyment which are currently filling the bookstores. One of the most notable of these works is Sex and the Single Man by Dr. Albert Ellis, author of an impressive number of studies including the wellknown Sex Without Guilt, The American Sexual Tragedy, and A Guide to Rational Living. Dr. Ellis's most recent work is an elaborate detailed training manual which pits the bachelor trainee ('you') against a hypothetical foe known as 'your girlfriend.' Most of the tactics in seduction are elementary, and the physiological terrain described by Dr. Ellis is old and trampled ground. The book's real distinction lies in its style; and since the style, among sexologists as among poets and novelists, is the measure of the man, let Dr. Ellis speak for himself: 'Coitus itself can in some instances be unusually exciting and arousing. If your girlfriend is not too excitable at a certain time, but is willing to engage in intercourse, she may become aroused through doing so, and may wind up by becoming intensely involved sexually, even though she was relatively passive when you first started to copulate.'
Review, 1559 words
To read the full text of this piece, please choose one of the following options:
|
If you are already a subscriber to the Review's electronic edition, please sign in: |
To subscribe to the electronic edition, please press the button below. |
To purchase access to this article for $3, please press the button below. |