But Enough About You by Christopher Buckley

Author:Christopher Buckley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

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I. The phrase was actually coined by Alexander Pope.

Criticism

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People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like.

—ATTRIBUTED TO A BOOK REVIEW WRITTEN BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN

FIFTY MILLION FRENCHMEN CAN’T BE WRONG

As Philip Larkin so indelibly put it,

Sexual intercourse began

In nineteen sixty-three

(Which was rather late for me)—

Between the end of the Chatterley ban

And the Beatles’ first LP.

But things didn’t really get going until 1972, when Dr. Alex Comfort published his groundbreaking and indeed earth-moving Joy of Sex. Since then it has sold in all its various editions eight million copies. If you were born after 1972, you may owe your very existence to Comfort. Now, on the occasion of the book’s thirtieth anniversary, it has been revised and reissued by Comfort’s son, Nicholas, and lavishly—lasciviously—reillustrated.

A lot has happened sexwise since 1972: Roe v. Wade; the herpes epidemic; AIDS; Attorney General Edwin Meese’s doomed Commission on Pornography; ubiquitous breast implants; the rise and fall of Penthouse magazine; X-rated videos; triple-X-rated videos; Larry Flynt; the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue industry; Victoria’s Secret; cyberporn; Boogie Nights; RU-486; Wilt Chamberlain’s 20,000th conquest; Courtney Love and her band, Hole; the Wonderbra; Monica and Bill; Ellen DeGeneres and Anne Heche; Viagra; Maxim; Manolo Blahnik; the Anna Nicole Smith television show. It would appear that more people are having sex than ever before.

Whether “joy” has increased apace amid all this furious exertion is debatable, but anyone seeking either initiation or a refresher course on ars amatoria could do worse than to peruse these mauve, titillating pages. There are some delicious giggles to be had along the way. If these are not necessarily intentional, they are no less enjoyable.

The young man featured in the illustrations in the 1972 ur-text has evolved. He is no longer hirsute and missing only a peace symbol, looking as if his day job were playing bongos with the Lovin’ Spoonful. His partner in bliss is a comely raven-haired lady who just can’t seem to stop smiling, and little wonder, though she’s surely going to have a crick in her neck after all this.

In this 2002 edition, the emphasis on hair is—I’ll just quote Comfort, whose name remains on this book’s title page despite his son’s revisions: “Many women shave their armpit hair, conditioned as they are by the idea that hairlessness is sexy. Opinions are divided on this one—fashion dictates armpits should be bare, but in my opinion shaving is simply ignorant vandalism.” This aperçu will surely stimulate lively dinner party conversation in the months ahead.

Comfort gets quite passionate on the general subject of the armpit. Under the heading “Armpit” we find: “Classical site for kisses. Should on no account be shaved (see Cassolette). Can be used instead of the palm to silence your partner at climax.” I know you’re in a hurry to find out about cassolette, but please first note that “if you use your palm, rub it over your own and your partner’s armpit area first.” At points as these, the

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