Solitary Sex: A Cultural History of Masturbation [Paperback]

Laqueur's scholarly couragefor it took courage to write this bookhas reaped ample rewards: Solitary Sex is a brilliant exploration of the shadow side of the Enlightenment.

A compendious and witty analysis of the subject.

A superb new volume... it's a helluva ride.

... [A] long, thoughtful meditation on privacy, solitude, the imagination and what Mr. Laqueur calls 'the morally autonomous, modern' self.

As a work of scholarly research... Professor Laqueur's hefty tome is without equal.

... courageous... the celebration of the imagination has to include a place for solitary sex.

Deeply learned...

Enlightening.

His writing is free from embarrassment and needless jargon....

[ Solitary Sex ] will, it almost goes without saying, become the standard work on the subject.

Laqueur argues entertainingly that 'onanism' went on to shape the way that we experience ourselves as modern, autonomous individuals.

Laqueur is an impeccable historian of ideas... he writes in an elegant, almost mesmerizing prose....

Laqueur is persuasive. An engaging writer.

Laqueur tackles with aplomb what has been called the last taboo.

Laqueur's penetrating analysis will fascinate social historians and the intellectual public. Recommended.

That masturbation has unsettling truths to tell us about our sexuality has always seemed likely; that the history of masturbation has so much to tell us about the history of freedom and individualismabout the political paradoxes of solitudeis startling. The sheer wit and verve of Laqueur's scholarshiphis marvellous possession of the facts and fantasiesmakes Solitary Sex a remarkable and compelling book.

... the blq