Books

drw@math.mit.edu
Sat, 18 Jun 88 18:48:50 EDT

Grove Press is reprinting a collection of historically and literarily
relevant pornography, especially the works of Marquis de Sade and "My
Secret Life" by "Walter". According to the intro, "The 120 Days of
Sodom" ("the first systematic attempt to catalogue sexual perversions"
-- even Day 1 contained things I'd never even *thought* of) is a very
influential work in the history of literature -- numerous authors were
affected by it, although none have dared to acknowledge it.

A note on Sade's character: Although he advocated murder as a form of
self-expression, he adamantly opposed capital punishment ("Only
passion justifies murder, and the state has no passions."). For a
short while during the French Revolution, Sade was a judge, and
refused to sentence several aristocrats to death. He wound up in the
Bastille for it, and nearly was guillotined.

There is also, of course, Principia Discordia and the Book of the
SubGenius. Also, there's the works of H. P. Lovecraft and Alester
Crowley, and the rather poor "Necronomicon" that somebody-or-other put
together. Also consider tracking down works on Tantric Yoga, since
Tantra involves using sexual energy to get enlightment, it should
freak out the normals.

Dale