A review by apatrick
Thy Neighbor's Wife by Gay Talese
This is a tough book to pigeonhole. If you like Studs Terkel's Working, you'll probably like this, too. It's about the history of sexual mores in America and how they've changed over time, particularly pornography and the various utopian communities that had approaches to sex and marriage that were totally outside the norm. American attitudes about sex changed drastically between the 1950s and 1980s, prompting Talese to research the topic.
I would consider Gay Talese to be one of those classic non-fiction authors that everyone should know about, and you ought to read at least one of his books. This is a pretty interesting place to start, and this particular edition contains some updates made in 2008 addressing what happened to some of the people Talese writes about and also discussing how his research into this book caused a backlash in the press and affected his marriage. It's a pretty brave story.
I would consider Gay Talese to be one of those classic non-fiction authors that everyone should know about, and you ought to read at least one of his books. This is a pretty interesting place to start, and this particular edition contains some updates made in 2008 addressing what happened to some of the people Talese writes about and also discussing how his research into this book caused a backlash in the press and affected his marriage. It's a pretty brave story.