The Joy of Writing Sex
A Guide for Fiction Writers, Revised and Updated: Interviews, Examples, and Advice from Today's Most Celebrated Writers
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ISBN10: 0805069933
ISBN13: 9780805069938
Trade Paperback
256 Pages
$20.99
CA$22.99
Five years after it was first published, The Joy of Writing Sex remains the classic guide to writing convincing sex scenes. Elizabeth Benedict covers all the issues, from the first time, to married sex and adultery, to sex in the age of AIDS.
Her instruction, supported with examples from the works of today's most respected writers—among them Dorothy Allison, Russell Banks, Alan Hollinghurst, Joyce Carol Oates, Carol Shields, and John Updike—focuses on crafting believable sex scenes that hinge on freshness of character, dialogue, mood, and plot.
In this revised edition, Benedict addresses the latest sexual revolution, intimacy on the Internet; adds new interviews with Edmund White, Darren Strauss, Stephen McCauley, and other writers; and updates her selections to include examples from the best fiction of the past few years.
Reviews
Praise for The Joy of Writing Sex
"Elizabeth Benedict's The Joy of Writing Sex answers all the questions you've been afraid to ask . . . Benedict's book—drawing on examples of good sex throughout literature—is welcome instruction."—A.M. Homes
"Read it because it will teach you everything you need to know about writing good fiction, whether your characters are having sex or having breakfast."—Peter Carey
"The Joy of Writing Sex isn't so much an instruction manual on how to do this as it is a license to go ahead and try, with a wealth of suggestions for how to approach the task."—The Women's Review of Books