Get the best of Oprah.com in your inbox. Sign up for our newsletters!
A Handful of Lust
Dirty Words: A Literary of Encyclopedia of Sex
Dirty Words: A Literary of Encyclopedia of Sex
By Ellen Sussman
304 pages. Bloomsbury.


"Orgy is a word that fills your mouth like a wild oyster that's just a little too big to (comfortably) swallow." That's one of many juicy—or unpalatable, depending on your point of view—revelations in Dirty Words: A Literary Encyclopedia of Sex, edited by Ellen Sussman (Bloomsbury). This compendium of highly personal definitions runs the gamut from A, Adultery to W, Wet Dreams, and includes stories and essays by the likes of Joshua Furst (Cybersex), Patricia Marx (Vibrator), and Elissa Schappell (Exhibitionist). Among the stellar celibates listed under C, Celibacy: Isaac Newton, Carol Channing, Antoni Gaudí, and Sigmund Freud, who swore off sex from about the age of 41. This little book of predilections would have knocked him off his couch.
Loading...
Advertisement
IN THE CURRENT ISSUE
Express yourself! We've got 26 ways to tell your story and share it with the world, jeans that make you look 10 pounds thinner, and recipes for the easiest dinner party you'll ever throw.
see all new stories
Advertisement
Advertisement