Joy of Sex Gets A Makeover

In 1972, The Joy of Sex became a fixture of bedside tables across America and spent 343 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. Now comes a revised version of the book that includes all we’ve learned about sex since the 1970s, reports the Times—including entries on AIDS and Viagra, and adding a female viewpoint its male British author missed.

Dr. Alex Comfort mentioned the clitoris, but has no specific section on it, while he does have a section on how to tactfully take a woman’s virginity, and another on “frigidity.” Says Susan Quilliam, the British sexologist who headed the revision: “There’s an awful lot of trivialization of sex. I am absolutely in favor of making sex fun, pleasurable, loving, playful. But this is serious stuff. You sleep with somebody and it bonds you to them.” (More sex stories.)