"Paging through the 1972 bestseller The Joy of Sex isn’t like the carnal epiphanies of a stroke book. It’s more like a recipe book for decent, solid cuisine that doesn’t make you salivate – like the old Joy of Cooking whose title was its inspiration. But Alex Comfort’s prose is much wittier than that of the Rombauers.

The books have much in common. Both are organized roughly by course – The Joy of Cooking progresses from cocktails, canapés and soufflés to fish and meat dishes, and then to deserts and especially taxing concoctions like jellies and candies, and pickles. Special chapters at the end deal with problems posed by blenders and high altitude cookery, as well as tips for menus and other factors the complete cook needs to take into account when organizing a feeding regimen.

The Joy of Sex borrows this approach, with “Starters”: foreplay and general tips on sexuality; “Main Courses”: recipes for specific sexual technique; “Sauces and Pickles”: advice about sex in odd places, group sex, and so forth; and “Problems”: tips for dealing with defloration, premature ejaculation, and the like."

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