Description
Book SynopsisWhen Judith G. Coffin discovered a virtually unexplored treasure trove of letters to Simone de Beauvoir from Beauvoir''s international readers, it inspired Coffin to explore the intimate bond between the famed author and her reading public. This correspondence, at the heart of Sex, Love, and Letters, immerses us in the tumultuous decades from the late 1940s to the 1970sfrom the painful aftermath of World War II to the horror and shame of French colonial brutality in Algeria and through the dilemmas and exhilarations of the early gay liberation and feminist movements. The letters also provide a glimpse into the power of reading and the power of readers to seduce their favorite authors.
The relationship between Beauvoir and her audience proved especially long, intimate, and vexed. Coffin traces this relationship, from the publication of Beauvoir''s acclaimed The Second Sex to the release of the last volume of her memoirs, offering an unfamiliar perspective on one o
Trade Review
Coffin opens up a new perspective onto a major writer, and makes a convincing case for her continuing intellectual relevance.
* Publisher's Weekly *
The title of Judith Coffin's book evokes, for those of us old enough to remember it, Steven Soderbergh's 1989 hit movie, Sex, Lies, and Videotape, whose main argument, according to the late and great Roger Ebert, was that "conversation is better than sex—more intimate, more voluptuous."[1]
* H-France Review *
This beautifully written, frequently moving book is a crucial addition to the scholarship on Simone de Beauvoir.
* Kirkus Reviews *
[Coffin] writes engagingly about... historic developments while paying strict attention to the vivid immediacy of those letters that range far and wide across the categories of sentiment, education, and motive, revealing personalities that run the gamut from the elegant to the crude, the appreciative to the demanding.
* Boston Review *
Several years ago, Coffin had the great fortune to be the first researcher to open an uncataloged Beauvoir archive.... No less fortunately, she had the great intelligence and skill to translate these letters into English for us and cast them in a lucid and fascinating account of Beauvoir's relationship to her readers then and since.
* Los Angeles Review of Books *
Sex, Love, and Lettersis a highly engaging book that provides an excellent contribution to the field ofBeauvoir scholarship. Coffin provides readers with an exceptionally rich picture of the cultural landscape of France and beyond in the decades after World War II, which is indispensable for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of Beauvoir's work.
* Simone de Beauvoir Studies *
Table of ContentsIntroduction
1. The Intimate Life of the Nation: Reading The Second Sex in 1949
2. Beauvoir, Kinsey, and Midcentury Sex
3. Readers and Writers
4. The Algerian War and the Scandal of Torture
5. Shame as Political Feeling
6. Second Takes on The Second Sex
7. Couple Troubles
8. Sexual Politics and Feminism
Conclusion
