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9781890951337

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A compendious and witty analysis of the subject. Jenny Diski Los Angeles Times Book Review A superb new volume... it's a helluva ride. Emma Tom Weekend Australian ... [A] long, thoughtful meditation on privacy, solitude, the imagination and what Mr. Laqueur calls 'the morally autonomous, modern' self. E. Eakin New York Times Website As a work of scholarly research... Professor Laqueur's hefty tome is without equal. Alexander Waugh Sunday Telegraph (UK) ... courageous... the celebration of the imagination has to include a place for solitary sex. Stephen Greenblatt New York Review of Books Deeply learned... Robert A. Nye , PhD JAMA Enlightening. Patty Lamberti Playboy His writing is free from embarrassment and needless jargon.... Publishers Weekly [ Solitary Sex ] will, it almost goes without saying, become the standard work on the subject. James Delingpole The Spectator Laqueur argues entertainingly that 'onanism' went on to shape the way that we experience ourselves as modern, autonomous individuals. Heather Findlay Girlfriends Laqueur is an impeccable historian of ideas... he writes in an elegant, almost mesmerizing prose.... Davenport-Hines TLS Laqueur is persuasive. An engaging writer. Briefly Noted The New Yorker Laqueur tackles with aplomb what has been called the last taboo. Kirkus Reviews Laqueur's penetrating analysis will fascinate social historians and the intellectual public. Recommended. Martha Cornog Library Journal ... the best sort of contemporary historical scholarship, combining historical detective work and detailed explication with a long view. Jeffrey Weeks Times Higher Education Supplement This is no cute 'n' frothy pop-cultural round-up: it's a very scholarly work.... T. Glyde Time Out

... courageous ... the celebration of the imagination has to include a place for solitary sex. -- Stephen Greenblatt, New York Review of Books ... [A] long, thoughtful meditation on privacy, solitude, the imagination and what Mr. Laqueur calls 'the morally autonomous, modern' self. -- E. Eakin, New York Times Website Deeply learned... -- Robert A. Nye, PhD, JAMA A superb new volume ... it's a helluva ride. -- Emma Tom, Weekend Australian Laqueur is an impeccable historian of ideas ... he writes in an elegant, almost mesmerizing prose... -- Davenport-Hines, TLS This is no cute 'n' frothy pop-cultural round-up: it's a very scholarly work... -- T. Glyde, Time Out Laqueur tackles with aplomb what has been called the last taboo. -- Kirkus Reviews A compendious and witty analysis of the subject. -- Jenny Diski, Los Angeles Times Book Review Laqueur is persuasive. An engaging writer. -- Briefly Noted, The New Yorker Laqueur argues entertainingly that 'onanism' went on to shape the way that we experience ourselves as modern, autonomous individuals. -- Heather Findlay, Girlfriends As a work of scholarly research... Professor Laqueur's hefty tome is without equal. -- Alexander Waugh, Sunday Telegraph (UK) [Solitary Sex ] will, it almost goes without saying, become the standard work on the subject. -- James Delingpole, The Spectator ... the best sort of contemporary historical scholarship, combining historical detective work and detailed explication with a long view. -- Jeffrey Weeks, Times Higher Education Supplement Enlightening. -- Patty Lamberti, Playboy His writing is free from embarrassment and needless jargon... -- Publishers Weekly Laqueur's penetrating analysis will fascinate social historians and the intellectual public. Recommended. -- Martha Cornog, Library Journal 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 individualism--about the political paradoxes of solitude--is startling. The sheer wit and verve of Laqueur's scholarship--his marvellous possession of the facts and fantasies--makes Solitary Sex a remarkable and compelling book. --Adam Phillips, psychoanalyst Laqueur's scholarly courage--for it took courage to write this book--has reaped ample rewards: Solitary Sex is a brilliant exploration of the shadow side of the Enlightenment. --Stephen Greenblatt, Harvard University

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Thomas W. Laqueur, winner of the Mellon Foundation's 2007 Distinguished Achievement Award, is Professor of History at the University of California, Berkeley.

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