The Sex Diaries Project
by Arianne Cohen (Wiley, $26)
New York’s Arianne Cohen “has learned a few things from poring over the sex diaries of 1,500 people,” said Jessica Bennett in TheDailyBeast​.com. In a book that manages to blend “sharp analysis” with “short-form erotica,” she introduces us to 39 of those diarists, whose stories suggest that what’s really going on in American bedrooms is “a lot less conventional than we might have imagined.” Fewer people than you’d think are in long-term monogamous relationships or taking steps to get there.
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Kama Sutra
translated by A.N.D. Haksar (Penguin, $15)
Vatsyayana’s Kama Sutra “resides in the popular imagination as kitsch, as if it were a series of aroused and arousing Pilates poses for two,” said Dwight Garner in The New York Times. This “clear and elegant” new translation reminds us that the 2,000-year-old Hindu poem is also a guide to living that includes thoughtful advice on intellectual pursuits and home decor. “That it also has chapter titles like ‘Scratching,’ ‘Kissing,’ ‘Biting,’ and ‘Reversing Roles’ only adds to its epicurean foxiness.”
Renegade
by Frederick Turner (Yale, $25)
Half a century ago, Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer was, without challenge, the “dirtiest book in the world,” said Lee Sandlin in The Wall Street Journal. Frederick Turner’s examination of Miller’s outlawed novel makes a convincing case that it was Miller’s “insolent tone,” as much as the book’s copious sex scenes, that raised the hackles of censors. Turner stumbles when trying to locate Miller’s exact place in American literature, but if anything, he’ll make you want to give Tropic another read.
Smut
by Alan Bennett (Picador, $14)
The two short novellas paired in this slim book are “nowhere near as prurient as the cheeky title suggests,” said Jim Higgins in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In the first, a 50-something landlady agrees to watch her tenants have sex in lieu of rent. In the second, a meddling, middle-aged mother pokes around in her son’s sex life, uncovering secrets and revealing some of her own. In different hands, these stories could become tawdry, but playwright Alan Bennett turns them into “witty comedy.”
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Weapons: Julia Garner stars in 'hyper-eerie' psychological thrillerThe Week Recommends Zach Cregger's 'top notch' new film opens with 17 children disappearing at exactly the same time
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Freakier Friday: Lohan and Curtis reunite for 'uneven' but 'endearing' sequelThe Week Recommends Mother-and-daughter comedy returns with four characters switching bodies
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Al fresco art: the UK's best sculpture parksThe Week Recommends Soak up the scenery with a stroll through these open-air galleries
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Also of interest...in picture books for grown-upsfeature How About Never—Is Never Good for You?; The Undertaking of Lily Chen; Meanwhile, in San Francisco; The Portlandia Activity Book
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Author of the week: Karen Russell
feature Karen Russell could use a rest.
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The Double Life of Paul de Man by Evelyn Barish
feature Evelyn Barish “has an amazing tale to tell” about the Belgian-born intellectual who enthralled a generation of students and academic colleagues.
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Book of the week: Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis
feature Michael Lewis's description of how high-frequency traders use lightning-fast computers to their advantage is “guaranteed to make blood boil.”
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Also of interest...in creative rebellion
feature A Man Called Destruction; Rebel Music; American Fun; The Scarlet Sisters
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Author of the week: Susanna Kaysen
feature For a famous memoirist, Susanna Kaysen is highly ambivalent about sharing details about her life.
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You Must Remember This: Life and Style in Hollywood’s Golden Age by Robert Wagner
feature Robert Wagner “seems to have known anybody who was anybody in Hollywood.”
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Book of the week: Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire by Peter Stark
feature The tale of Astoria’s rise and fall turns out to be “as exciting as anything in American history.”