Solitary Pleasures

Solitary Pleasures is the first anthology to address masturbation, exploring both the history and artistic representation of autoeroticism. Masturbation today enjoys a highly equivocal and contradictory status among cultural discourses relating to sexuality. On the one hand, it is the subject of much popular treatment, especially in sexual self-help books, advice columns, and in pop culture--for example, Madonna's "Like a Virgin" performance, a recent Roseanne episode, and David Russell's movie Spanking the Monkey. On the other hand, masturbation is still a taboo subject for most people in everyday conversation. Perhaps more surprising, it has been largely dismissed by academics as a trivial, humorous topic and the "history of a delusion." It was not until the eighteenth century that "onanism" was portrayed as a morbid act of epidemic proportions that produced pox, hair loss, blindness, insanity, impotence and a horrible. Its prevention and treatment warranted diverse and often cruel measures: surveillance, diets, drugs, corsets, electrical alarms, urethral cauterization, clitoridectomy, and labial sewing. This literature's apocalyptic warnings about the personal and social morbidity of "pollution-by-the-hand" are largely unknown to most people today, but the ghostly echoes of these admonitions still inform and preserve the present taboo of the subject. Why did this apparently innocuous activity become so overpoweringly stigmatized? Why was the eradication of masturbation one of the most important goals of 19th century public hygiene? Why, even after the "sexual revolution," is masturbation still shrouded in shame?

Solitary Pleasures is the first anthology to address masturbation, exploring both the history and artistic representation of autoeroticism. Masturbation today enjoys a highly equivocal and contradictory status among cultural discourses relating to sexuality. On the one hand, it is the subject of much popular treatment, especially in sexual self-help books, advice columns, and in pop culture--for example, Madonna's "Like a Virgin" performance, a recent Roseanne episode, and David Russell's movie Spanking the Monkey. On the other hand, masturbation is still a taboo subject for most people in everyday conversation. Perhaps more surprising, it has been largely dismissed by academics as a trivial, humorous topic and the "history of a delusion." It was not until the eighteenth century that "onanism" was portrayed as a morbid act of epidemic proportions that produced pox, hair loss, blindness, insanity, impotence and a horrible. Its prevention and treatment warranted diverse and often cruel measures: surveillance, diets, drugs, corsets, electrical alarms, urethral cauterization, clitoridectomy, and labial sewing. This literature's apocalyptic warnings about the personal and social morbidity of "pollution-by-the-hand" are largely unknown to most people today, but the ghostly echoes of these admonitions still inform and preserve the present taboo of the subject. Why did this apparently innocuous activity become so overpoweringly stigmatized? Why was the eradication of masturbation one of the most important goals of 19th century public hygiene? Why, even after the "sexual revolution," is masturbation still shrouded in shame?

What does it mean to be happy? Americans have had an obsession with "the pursuit of happiness" ever since the Founding Fathers enshrined it—along with life and liberty—as our national birthright. Whether it means the accumulation of wealth or a more vaguely understood notion of self-fulfillment or self-actualization, happiness has been an inevitable, though elusive, goal. But it is hard to separate "real" happiness from the banal self-help version that embraces mindless positive thinking. And though we have two booming "happiness industries"—religion, with its promise of salvation, and psychopharmacology, with its promise of better living through chemistry—each comes with its own problems and complications. In Seven Pleasures, Willard Spiegelman takes a look at the possibilities for achieving ordinary secular happiness without recourse to either religion or drugs. In this erudite and frequently hilarious book of essays, he discusses seven activities that lead naturally and easily to a sense of well-being. One of these—dancing—requires a partner, and therefore provides a lesson in civility, or good citizenship, as one of its benefits. The other six—reading, walking, looking, listening, swimming, and writing—are things one performs alone. Seven Pleasures is a marvelously engaging guide to the pursuit of happiness, and all its accompanying delights.

A collection of recipes, crafts, and activities to bring your family together in the kitchen, from the author of Simple Pleasures of the Garden. The kitchen really is the heart of the home. It’s the first place family and friends gather, not only to prepare and eat food, but to chat, sip tea, snack on home-baked cookies, unwind after a tough day, and reconnect with loved ones. The latest in the Simple Pleasures series of books, Simple Pleasures of the Kitchen captures the essence of the kitchen. It offers a cornucopia of recipes, food-based crafts, food facts and tips, and family activities, as well as stories from kitchens around the world sure to warm anyone’s heart, no matter what the weather. Organized by season, the book offers: Spring Flings, The Savor of Summer, Autumn’s Abundance, and Cozying Up in Winter. Recipes include comforting mashed potatoes, fresh summer risotto, delicious meatloaf, and heart-warming brownies and popovers. The super-simple jam recipe will go great with popovers, or as a gift in jars you’ve decorated yourself. You can satisfy your sweet tooth and your soul at the same time! Susannah Seton’s Simple Pleasures books continually delight readers with their down-home recipes, crafts, and activities that bring the whole family together. Don’t miss this one. “This enchanting and entertaining book reminds us of the importance of these times, how the simplest of events and day-to-day activities all blend to create cherished memories.”—Jonathon King, cofounder of Stonewall Kitchen, from the Introduction

People magazine named Eloisa James’ novel Midnight Pleasures “Page Turner of the Week” and raved “Romance writing does not get much better than this.” Now the acclaimed author returns with another sumptuous tale of passion and misadventure in Regency England. . . . Gabrielle Jerningham cherishes the portrait of her betrothed, the perfect Peter Dewland . . . until she meets his commanding older brother Quill. But it is Peter to whom she has been promised. And how can she possibly transform her voluptuous, outspoken self into the poised gentlewoman Peter requires? When Gabby’s shocking décolletage plunges to her waist at her first ball, Peter is humiliated. But Quill comes to the rescue, to the peril of his heart. An accident years before has left Quill plagued by headaches—the kind that grows more excruciating with strenuous exercise. Needless to say, this hardly bodes well for siring progeny. But the very sight of Gabby leaves Quill breathless. One forbidden kiss and Quill vows to have her, headaches—and Peter—be damned! But it will take a clever man—and a cleverer woman--to turn the tables on propriety and find their way to true love. . . . BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Eloisa James's Paris in Love. Praise for Enchanting Pleasures “Another winner . . . delightful heroine, masterful hero, and an ingenious plot: intelligent, sexy fun.”—Kirkus Reviews “Charasmatic characters and a healthy dose of humor . . . once again, James weaves a story as rich in plot as in character.”—Publishers Weekly