Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
read this significantly younger than i should have and while it did make me feel kinda better about myself at the time, looking back at it.. its kinda just alright
informative
slow-paced
This was a book club book for me and I’m not quite sure what to think. I found it interesting to a point - sexual fantasies are obviously going to be intriguing - but the book was a bit too long/much for me. I also wonder a little bit about how this qualitative “data” was collected. The fantasies were described as almost novel-like (or sometimes erotica) writing rather than off the cuff conversations. But all in all, I muddled through and can admit that there were some fun stories and fantasies inside.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence
Minor: Homophobia
funny
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
4 Stars
She has a penchant for difficult men, types who beat her up either physically or mentally. I've never known her to be attracted to a "nice guy", and I get the feeling there's something in her that would turn even a nice guy into a bastard.
A strange book and one that didn't quite go as I planned.
It's a list of sexual fantasies she has collected and commentary not on the fantasies but on how people react to them.
It's very dated - you can tell the time it is from and some of the stories are wild and horrible but their fantasies so I guess that's where discretion comes into it.
While I wouldn't shelf it as a feminist read it is nice read on what women desired at the time.
She has a penchant for difficult men, types who beat her up either physically or mentally. I've never known her to be attracted to a "nice guy", and I get the feeling there's something in her that would turn even a nice guy into a bastard.
A strange book and one that didn't quite go as I planned.
It's a list of sexual fantasies she has collected and commentary not on the fantasies but on how people react to them.
It's very dated - you can tell the time it is from and some of the stories are wild and horrible but their fantasies so I guess that's where discretion comes into it.
While I wouldn't shelf it as a feminist read it is nice read on what women desired at the time.
Could a collection of women's sexual fantasies from the 70s still shock a reader in the Fifty Shades era?
It sure can.
Though it's easy to become desensitised after the first 100 or so pages of orgies, horses, dogs, whips and big black men.
But telling those fantasies off as silly or deviant is exactly what this book goes in against.Your fantasies are your own, and while you risk scorn when sharing them with the world, and may experience a feeling of guilt as a consequence, ultimately it doesn't matter if it makes you feel good.
What most surprised me about this book, other than the level of openness of these 70s women, other than the large apparent attraction of Alsatians (I learned a word!), and other than the large number of women already married with children and in a not-so-happy marriage by the time they're 22... was how touching some of these fantasies were.
(No, not that kind of touching.)
A lot of these fantasies seem to reflect a great yearning these women feel for tenderness and love. Many fantasies describe not sexual acts, but situations in which the woman is admired, told she's worth looking at and caring for. Some women just fantasise about walks on the beach. Other contributions that touched me in a way:
- The woman, who was most definitely not a lesbian, but who often fantasised about being with a woman, and who often had sexual encounters with a lesbian friend of hers, which made me feel for that friend.
- The man who wrote in to tell that his wife had no fantasies whatsoever thank you very much, and signed the letter in her name.
- The woman who had been sexually abused in her childhood by a member of the school staff, and grew up to be a member of a school staff herself, and now abused her pupils in the same way. A sad vicious cycle.
- The man who wrote in to share the fantasy of his now late wife, who confessed to him about fantasising about a certain actor. During sex they then acted out that fantasy, and the day after he went to buy an outfit reminiscent of that actor. This made his wife cry, as she had been afraid he actually wouldn't be able to look him in the eye anymore after the previous night.
Singling out these fantasies probably says something about me in return, but I'll leave it at that.
In short, this is a good bedside-table book, or train book, if you're not too much of a blusher.
It sure can.
Though it's easy to become desensitised after the first 100 or so pages of orgies, horses, dogs, whips and big black men.
But telling those fantasies off as silly or deviant is exactly what this book goes in against.Your fantasies are your own, and while you risk scorn when sharing them with the world, and may experience a feeling of guilt as a consequence, ultimately it doesn't matter if it makes you feel good.
What most surprised me about this book, other than the level of openness of these 70s women, other than the large apparent attraction of Alsatians (I learned a word!), and other than the large number of women already married with children and in a not-so-happy marriage by the time they're 22... was how touching some of these fantasies were.
(No, not that kind of touching.)
A lot of these fantasies seem to reflect a great yearning these women feel for tenderness and love. Many fantasies describe not sexual acts, but situations in which the woman is admired, told she's worth looking at and caring for. Some women just fantasise about walks on the beach. Other contributions that touched me in a way:
- The woman, who was most definitely not a lesbian, but who often fantasised about being with a woman, and who often had sexual encounters with a lesbian friend of hers, which made me feel for that friend.
- The man who wrote in to tell that his wife had no fantasies whatsoever thank you very much, and signed the letter in her name.
- The woman who had been sexually abused in her childhood by a member of the school staff, and grew up to be a member of a school staff herself, and now abused her pupils in the same way. A sad vicious cycle.
- The man who wrote in to share the fantasy of his now late wife, who confessed to him about fantasising about a certain actor. During sex they then acted out that fantasy, and the day after he went to buy an outfit reminiscent of that actor. This made his wife cry, as she had been afraid he actually wouldn't be able to look him in the eye anymore after the previous night.
Singling out these fantasies probably says something about me in return, but I'll leave it at that.
In short, this is a good bedside-table book, or train book, if you're not too much of a blusher.
This book felt very problematic with fantasies (and I think even mentions of irl experiences) of beastiality, pedophilia, the fetishizing of black men, and lesbophobia/biphobia. I only managed to skim around after the first fantasy or two.
Content Warnings
Minor: Biphobia, Pedophilia, Racism, Lesbophobia
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Weird typos aside, I feel like the book certainly achieved its purpose in validating women who fantasize. That said, I would skip the middle section of the book (which goes over incest fantasies, etc.) entirely if I were to ever read it again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism
Minor: Drug use
Black people are fetishized in fantasies all throughout the book and it made me feel weird even as a non-black person.
4.5*
Absolutely loved this book! The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because I felt that the writing could have been a little better, even another edit of the book would have sufficed as there were some typos and awkward phrasing.
Also, I feel like a trigger warning is in order for anyone who is sensitive to the following informarion:
1). Rape or rape fantasies
2). Violence or violence during sex etc.
3). Beastiality! (Not really a trigger warning but I was not prepared for the amount of beastiality in this book. The first story mentioned involves it and I feel like it should have been placed later on in the book, as Nancy Friday even admits she anticipates some people will stop reading past the first story because of this.)
I would also highly encourage men to read this book as a lot of the women felt guilty or ashamed of their fantasies and felt like they couldn't tell their partners about then because they were afraid he would be jealous or angry etc.
Regardless of this I feel like it would be interesting for men to read this to see just how much women actually do think about sex daily.
Overall, this book was a wild ride (pun intended) and fascinating to read especially since it was published in the 70s!
Absolutely loved this book! The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because I felt that the writing could have been a little better, even another edit of the book would have sufficed as there were some typos and awkward phrasing.
Also, I feel like a trigger warning is in order for anyone who is sensitive to the following informarion:
1). Rape or rape fantasies
2). Violence or violence during sex etc.
3). Beastiality! (Not really a trigger warning but I was not prepared for the amount of beastiality in this book. The first story mentioned involves it and I feel like it should have been placed later on in the book, as Nancy Friday even admits she anticipates some people will stop reading past the first story because of this.)
I would also highly encourage men to read this book as a lot of the women felt guilty or ashamed of their fantasies and felt like they couldn't tell their partners about then because they were afraid he would be jealous or angry etc.
Regardless of this I feel like it would be interesting for men to read this to see just how much women actually do think about sex daily.
Overall, this book was a wild ride (pun intended) and fascinating to read especially since it was published in the 70s!
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced