''The Joy of Sex'' is a 1972 illustrated

sex manual Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones ( ova, of ...

by British author

Alex Comfort Alexander Comfort (10 February 1920 – 26 March 2000) was a British scientist and physician known best for his nonfiction sex manual, '' The Joy of Sex'' (1972). He was an author of both fiction and nonfiction, as well as a gerontologis ...

. An updated edition was released in September 2008.

Overview

''The Joy of Sex'' spent eleven weeks at the top of the ''New York Times'' bestseller list and more than 70 weeks in the top five (1972–1974). The original intention was to use the same approach as such cook books as ''

The Joy of Cooking ''Joy of Cooking'', often known as "''The Joy of Cooking''", is one of the United States' most-published cookbooks. It has been in print continuously since 1936 and has sold more than 20 million copies. It was published privately during 1931 b ...

'', hence section titles include "starters" and "main courses". The book features sexual practices such as

oral sex Oral sex, sometimes referred to as oral intercourse, is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a person by another person using the mouth (including the lips, tongue, or teeth) and the throat. Cunnilingus is oral sex p ...

and various sex positions as well as bringing "further out" practices such as

sexual bondage Bondage in the BDSM subculture, is the practice of consensually tying, binding, or restraining a partner for erotic, aesthetic, or somatosensory stimulation. A partner may be physically restrained in a variety of ways, including the use o ...

and

swinging Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing ri ...

to the attention of the general public. The original version was illustrated with specially commissioned illustrations by

Chris Foss Christopher F. Foss (born 1946) is a British artist and science fiction illustrator. He is best known for his science fiction book covers and the black and white illustrations for the original editions of '' The Joy of Sex''. Career Early w ...

(black-and-white line drawings) and Charles Raymond (colour paintings) mixed with classical Indian and Japanese erotica to emphasize historical precedents for erotic illustration, out of concern of possible obscenity suits."How ''The Joy of Sex'' Was Illustrated"
(26 October 2011) at

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadc ...

The two artists based their work on photographs taken by Chris Foss, of Charles Raymond and his wife. The illustrations have become somewhat dated, mainly because of changes in hairstyles. Both the illustrations and text are titillating as well as illustrative, in contrast to the bland, clinical style of earlier books about sex. More recent editions feature new artwork, and added text emphasizing safer sex. ''The Joy of Sex'' did not address homosexual sex, bondage, other

BDSM BDSM is a variety of often erotic practices or roleplaying involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given the wide range of practices, some of which may be engaged ...

activities beyond a definitional level. The book played a part in the

sexual revolution The sexual revolution, also known as the sexual liberation, was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the United States and the developed world from the 1 ...

. Newer versions reversed previously-supportive positions on topics such as swinging, due to extensive textual changes made at the height of the 1980s

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ma ...

panic.

Pocket book

A pocket book version entitled, ''The Joy of Sex, the Pocket Edition'' was also published. The book won the

Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year The ''Bookseller''/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year, originally known as the Diagram Group Prize for the Oddest Title and commonly known as the Diagram Prize, is a humorous literary award that is given annually to a book with an unusu ...

in 1997.

Film

In 1984, '' Joy of Sex'' based on this book was released, directed by Martha Coolidge and written by Kathleen Rowell & J.J. Salter.

Video game

In 1993, a

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...

adaptation of the book was released for the

Philips CD-i The Compact Disc-Interactive (CD-I, later CD-i) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was mostly developed and marketed by Dutch company Philips. It was created as an extension of CDDA and CD-ROM and specified in the '' Green Book ...

. It is one (possibly the first) of only 27 video games to have received the Adults Only rating from the

ESRB The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings to consumer video games in the United States and Canada. The ESRB was established in 1994 by the Entertainment Software Ass ...

due to its strong sexual content.

Availability in public libraries

There has been controversy over ''The Joy of Sex'' in the United States. Religious groups have fought to keep it out of public libraries. In March 2008, the

Nampa, Idaho Nampa () is the largest city in Canyon County, Idaho. Its population was 100,200 at the time of the 2020 Census. It is Idaho's third-most populous city. Nampa is about west of Boise along Interstate 84, and six miles (10 km) west of Meridian. ...

, public library board ruled in favour of removing ''The Joy of Sex'' and ''

The Joy of Gay Sex ''The Joy of Gay Sex'' is a sex manual for men who have sex with men by Charles Silverstein and Edmund White. The book was first published in 1977. The original print run was for 75,000 copies. The book has been translated into French, German, I ...

'' from the libraries' shelves, making them only available upon request in the library director's office. The books were restored to shelves in September 2008 in response to ACLU threats of litigation.Nampa library restores 'Joy of Sex' books
Kristin Rodine. Retrieved on 2008-09-14.

Updated 2008 edition

Publisher Mitchell Beazley released an updated edition of the book in September 2008. The new edition was rewritten and reinvented by relationship psychologist Susan Quilliam and approved by Nicholas Comfort, the original author's son.Caroline Davies
"Joy of Sex gets makeover for generation that found Viagra"
''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'', February 10, 2008. Accessed 30 July 2008. More material has been added to the book, and the remaining text has been rewritten from both a factual and psychological viewpoint to take into account social shifts since 1972. The new edition presents a more balanced female/male perspective and also contains 120 completely re-shot photographs and re-drawn illustrations. The quirky style—and the message of the book, that sex is fun—remain the same. Mitchell Beazley has marketed the ''New Joy'' with the subtitle "a thinking person's guide to sex".

Publication history

* ''The Joy of Sex: A Gourmet Guide to Lovemaking'', 1972 * ''More Joy of Sex: A Lovemaking Companion to The Joy of Sex'', 1973 (sequel) * ''The Joy of Sex: A Gourmet Guide to Lovemaking'', revised and updated edition, 1986 (revised to include AIDS) * ''More Joy of Sex: A Lovemaking Companion to The Joy of Sex'', revised and updated edition, 1987 (sequel; revised to include AIDS) * ''The New Joy of Sex: A Gourmet Guide to Lovemaking for the Nineties'', 1992 (revised to bring the science, especially the sociology, up to date) * ''The Joy of Sex'', 2003 (newly illustrated) * ''The New Joy of Sex'', by Alex Comfort and Susan Quilliam, 2008 (, )

References

External links

''The New Joy of Sex''
(1991) at Google Books
"How ''The Joy of Sex'' Was Illustrated"
(26 October 2011) at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joy of Sex, The 1972 non-fiction books English-language books Literature related to the sexual revolution Sex manuals