The Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex and Other True Stories

By Pagan Kennedy

Nonfiction is the new black comedy in this hilarious collection of award-winning literary essays written by the infamous Pagan Kennedy. In the title piece, Alex Comfort, author of The Joy of Sex, reinvents himself as a sex guru in California and hatches a plan to destroy monogamy forever. In the stories that follow, a retired chemist finds a way to turn a wasteland into paradise, an aspiring tyrant tries to become the emperor of America, and an artist rigs himself up to a "brain machine" made from parts he bought at Radio Shack. All of the essays—most of which have appeared in The New York Times Magazine and The Boston Globe Magazine—document the stories of visionaries bent on remaking the world, for better or for worse.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Santa Fe Writer's Project
• Release date: Sep 1, 2008
• ISBN: 9780981966151

Pagan Kennedy

Pagan Kennedy has published eight books. Her biography Black Livingstone was named a New York Times Notable Book. Her novel Spinsters was short-listed for the Orange Prize and was the winner of the Barnes & Noble Discover Award. She has written for the New York Times Magazine, Boston Globe Magazine, the Village Voice, Details, the Utne Reader, the Nation, and Ms. magazine. She lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Book preview

AUTHOR

SECTION 1:

Visionaries

The Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex:

The story of Alex Comfort, in 17 positions

In 1972, The Joy of Sex skyrocketed to the top of the bestseller lists and stayed for most of the decade. It brought the sexual revolution—which had exploded on college campuses a few years before—into the suburbs. Housewives read it and experienced their very first orgasms. Couples pored over it together. Swingers referred to it in conversation with arched eyebrows. The Joy of Sex became the Bible of the American bedroom, and it added new terms to our language: g-string, tongue bath, water works. Yet, though Joy was as much a ’70s superstar as Farrah Fawcett, few people can tell you who wrote it. Its author, Alex Comfort, might be considered one of the greatest and strangest minds of the twentieth century.

This is his story.

FIREWORKS

One day in 1934, he sequestered himself in his family’s greenhouse in London to perform an experiment. Alex Comfort—then 14 years old—had decided to invent his own fireworks. He ground together sugar, sulfur, and saltpeter, an operation so dangerous that most chemists pour water over the ingredients to prevent a blast. Alex neglected to take that precaution. The container exploded. The roof of the greenhouse blew out. A red-tinted vapor hovered in the air before him. Four fingers on his left hand had vanished, leaving a lump of meat with one thumb hanging off it. He felt no pain. Indeed, he found it thrilling to be blown apart.

Or, at least, that’s how he told the story later. Alex Comfort loved explosions, even the one that mutilated him. He never would admit any regret at the loss of his four fingers. As a middle-aged physician, he bragged that his stump could be more useful than a conventional hand, particularly when it came to performing certain medical procedures—exploring a woman’s birth canal, for instance.

One thing was clear after the accident: Alex should avoid laboratories, at least until he was older. So he set his sights on literary greatness instead. When he was 16, his father took him on a tramp steamer to Buenos Aires and then Senegal; Alex scribbled notes along the way. In 1938, his final year of high school, he published a little gem of a travel book, titled The Silver River, billed as the diary of a schoolboy.

THE GLOVE

When Alex arrived at Cambridge University, the other students stood in awe of him—a published author! He regarded himself as brilliant but ugly. A reed-thin boy in a tweed jacket, he kept his eyes caged behind glittering round glasses and wore a glove on one hand. I didn’t like to ask him why, said Robert Greacen, who befriended Alex during his university years. One day, when they shared a train car together, Alex removed the glove, and Greacen noticed the stump, but still didn’t dare mention it.

The truth was, Greacen had fallen under the spell of Alex Comfort. Even though we were the same age, he seemed like a man ten or twelve years older than me in ideas, reading and opinion. Greacen decided that Alex was the cleverest person he’d ever met.

Indeed. At age 22, Alex began sparring with George Orwell in the pages of Tribune; in rhyming verse, they debated whether Britain should have entered World War II. Alex sneered at the concept of a good war and denounced the group-think of the British. He was, already, an

Reviews for The Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex and Other True Stories

[bookishbunny · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was an entertaining book, especially for those of us with short attention spans. I found I learned about aspects of the world while reading about the people who influence them. The personalities and backgrounds on these pages are various and intriguing. I did feel some disjointedness when swinging from one story to the next. It felt a bit like Kennedy, after establishing the title story as the meat of the book, had rustled up several others in an attempt to plump up the page count. That said, I feel many of the stories were enjoyable and educational.

[dandoherty · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a good book, but I will probably never read it again. Oddly enough I don't mean this in a bad way. I found the articles in it (most of them anyway) quick, enjoyable, fascinating, and educational. But this book feels like more of a jumping off point than something to return to. It has increased my interest in a number of topics, given me some extra bits of trivia to throw into conversations, and made me want to read more of Pagan Kennedy's work. (if only because she has a cool name.) It reads like a very good magazine, hardly coincidental as the articles had all been previously published in some form or other in magazines, and in that spirit I will be passing this book along to other people to read and enjoy and pass on, until it becomes dated and nobody cares anymore.

[biloquist · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Pagan Kennedy became a figure of interest as a 'zine publisher. The 'zine world now feels like a precusor to the blog world: a suggestion that it wasn't technology alone that drove the move to a certain spare prose style, episodic reportage, somewhat self-oriented musings such as that which goes for the best in blog writing now. The rise of "quirky" non-fiction, a world away from Sontag et al but perhaps not so far from independent journalism, coincides with this temperament of the times, and over the course of her career Kennedy's writing has shifted its focus well away from the sometimes self-consciously arch to a genuine fascination with figures whose eccentricity masks the ways in which they form miniature portraits of the cultures we inhabit now. Poised somewhere between This American Life and the goofy-seriousness of McSweeneys, these essays are diverting, somewhat ephemeral, literate, congenial. Nothing here to make your brain hurt.

[damemuriel · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was mostly a good read. I think the low point for me was the story about Conor Oberst (I couldn't buy the premise that he is a sentient being). The high point was Kennedy's autobiographical stories. I'm really looking forward to reading some of her other books.

[lizaandpaul · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book puts the serendipity of reading obituaries in the papers into book form. By this I mean that often when I chance on the obituaries I find out about someone I have never heard of who has had a very interesting life and one never knows who will be next. Pagan Kennedy writes about quirky and unusual people one would be unlikely to meet. Her choice of subjects is varied and her treatments sympathetic and the resulting book is fascinating and bears out the truism that fact is stranger than fiction.

[othemts · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I selected this book from the Library Thing Early Reviewer program because I knew that Kennedy was a Boston-area writer, but that was the extent of what I knew about her. Then I let the book sit around for over half-a-year, because I wasn't sure it was the type of thing I wanted to read. My mistake, because Kennedy is a brilliant writer. Her sentences are very spare, but contain the precise wording necessary to convey complex ideas and emotions. I imagine Kennedy labors over each sentence for hours to get the wording right. If she doesn't, then I hate her because no one should be able to write that well, that easily.The essays in this book are written in a literary nonfiction style - what Kennedy calls "true stories" - and mostly are short biographies of interesting people. Most of these people are involved in science, technology, or medicine, all of them are innovators and have tormented lives that motivate them. Stories include:

• the title story about Alex Comfort, the psychologist behind the book The Joy of Sex.
• Amy Smith who strives to invent things that can cheaply and easily be adopted poor, remote areas of the developing world.
• A young female weightlifter, Cheryl Haworth, who seems to have a future as the strongest woman in the world.
• Amateur researches examining the effect of electric charges on the brain for improving memory, intelligence, and personality.
• Vermine Supreme, a prankster-activist.
• A man who wants to restore the coastline of Eritrea by planting mangrove trees (Dr. Gordon Sato).
• Singer/songwriter/collaborator extraordinaire and child prodigy Conor Oberst.
• Saul Griffith, who wants to teach the next generation to be tinkerers and inventors.

The book also contains autobiographical stories from Kennedy's life, most interesting is the revolutionary yet commonsensical ideas put forth in the essay "Boston Marriage" about women sharing lives and residences together

[jasfaulkner · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Pagan Kennedy's latest collection profiles people who have made it their life work to radically change deeply entrenched mores. Actually that is a very dry introduction to a review of a collection of sparkling often funny and sometimes touching profiles of people operating on the fringes of society. Predictably enough, Kennedy's prose is as sharp as ever. Highly recommended.

[thewordygecko_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pagan Kennedy writes in her introduction of long ago wanting to create a 'spell out of words', and that is what she has done in this book. The 'hum' of truth, as she describes it, can be heard as you read these essays, from an intelligent distillation of Alex Comfort and his sexy hopes that were ultimately thwarted, to any manner of eccentrics, to scorpions. There is the hum of humour, of whimsy, of loss. The Dangerous Joy of Dr Sex, the title essay, shows us an unprepossessing man, dedicated to his work: he was a medical doctor and a biologist, a leading authority on snails, and wrote a large number of books, including poetry and science, novels and sociology. When he met the woman who was to become his mistress, his interest in sex, and the study of it which became The Joy of Sex, exploded. But it became, as Kennedy explains, the albatross around his neck.There are fourteen other essays, covering a wide range of people. A female weightlifter from a family of strong confident women, an inventor of useful things for poor countries, Alex the parrot, the 'new Bob Dylan'. And three stories about her own experiences, including her involvement in a 'Boston marriage'. The essays vary in length, but all contain one true essence of the subject. Occasionally I wanted more from the story, but overall I was drawn into the magic of Pagan Kennedy's creations.

[jemsw_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This slim collection of essays practically radiates the promise of interest and enjoyment—the essays mainly have a pop science approach, done in the most engaging way possible, though a few vary from the theme, in particular the "first person" essays at the end, which very much feel thrown in for makeweight. And the essays are, certainly, interesting and engaging. More than that, many of them open up possibilities for new ways of living and being in our world, and I can't think of any higher praise than that. Their strong humanitarian concern is laudable.The problem is, they read like what they are—articles written to deadline, without depth, artistry or serious engagement. They're slick and not terribly serious. While Kennedy plainly has the knack for knowing what to write about, she either hasn't yet hit on how to write about it, or hasn't in these spaces been allowed the room to approach her subjects properly.Pick up the book for an airplane, for a friend in the hospital, for anytime when time needs to pass brightly and quickly. It will, certainly it will. Kennedy's warm, engaging tone and vivid characters will make certain of that. But I'm still holding out to read a proper book from her before I make any real judgments about her talents.

[keywestnan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This collection of mostly magazine profiles stands up through the transition into a book -- which is saying something. Pagan Kennedy has a good eye and a good ear, and an obvious affinity to creative oddballs who are mostly trying to improve the human condition, whether it's through bringing easier ways to grow and produce food to Third World countries or trying to get the inhibited English and Americans to embrace open marriages and group sex. At times she even ventures into participatory journalism, as when she volunteers to try transcranial direct current stimulation -- with a device she characterizes as "the Ronco Brain-O-Matic of the research world." I liked a lot of these pieces; my favorite might have been a profile of a political activist/jokester who changed his legal name to Vermin Supreme. In a few sentences she captures his character and a lot more besides. "He didn't have answers about his own motives," Kennedy writes. "He didn't seem to know what made him tick. In that way, too, he reminded me of a career politician. His own inner life bores him. He's interested only in his public self."

[seriousgrace · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Pagan Kennedy's Dangerous Joy is a series of nonfiction essays with two central themes: invention and humanity. You could call them short stories, mini biographies because each chapter focuses on the life of someone creative - ranging from Alex Comfort to Pagan's own mother. As readers we are drawn into not only the science behind their inventions, but the personality behind the answer to why they did what they did. Every story is peppered with humor and science - an unlikely combination that works.Kennedy's first story is about Alex Comfort, the man behind The Joy of Sex. Who knew that Alex was a British biologist hell bent on reinventing orgies as the norm for sex? His story is compelling and completely tragic. Kennedy goes on to introduce us to Amy Smith, recipient of the MacArthur Foundation's Genius award; Dr Irene Pepperberg, trainer of a brilliant African Grey parrot named Alex; Cheryl Haworth, Olympic weight lifter; and Conor Oberst, a tormented musician...just to name a few.

[marag_729074 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I cannot recommend this book enough! Each chapter introduces the reader to another interesting person, and gives us a glimpse into the life of someone doing something extraordinary. Kennedy's writing is vivid and perfect, and she's chosen truly fascinating people to profile.

[saraswati27 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is an collection of marvelous writing on non fiction topics.In her forward, Kennedy describes Capote and other "creative non-fiction" writers as early inspirations, and the connection is clear when you read her work. Kennedy sticks to the factual, but with beautiful language and imagery.I particularly liked Kennedy's navigation of that strange boundary between the non-fiction writer who pretends she is an invisible, impartial observer, and the non-fiction writer who inserts herself into the story. Kennedy's voice, her thoughts and impressions, and occasional guesses wander into the narrative without overpowering it. She also includes three short auto-biographical vignettes at the end of the collection, which I enjoyed just as much as her stories about other people.One problem I have had with other creative non-fiction writers is that they often seem to drift inexorably towards a single underlying structure in all of their writing. Either that writer turns out only artistic tableux, short pieces that are snapshots of a time and place resisting any overarching narrative, or that writer always seems to find a neat, wrapped up theme that winds its way carefully through every moment of the story, leading the reader gently to some insight that may or may not feel tainted by the writer's own vision. Despite my descriptions, either strategy can be legitimate creative non-fiction writing in my opinion, its the consistency that strikes me as false. Kennedy's writing does not do this. Some pieces have a thread that runs through them, something that you feel she may have thought through. Other stories are just snapshots, but very interesting ones.I felt more trusting of this variety, it reflects my experience of life, in which a narrative sometimes appears, and sometimes remains hidden. I liked her willingness to let an interesting story just be, without trying to force it into a "message".If you liked the recent anthology "The new kings of nonfiction", edited by Ira Glass, or are a fan of Capote, Thompson, or This American Life, I would highly recommend this one.

[avisannschild · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I can’t imagine why it took me so long to read one of Pagan Kennedy’s books. I fell in love with her writing voice from the first paragraph of her introduction to this collection of essays and articles, and was more than willing to follow her through the secret doorway “into a strange new realm.” In this collection, she writes about “oddities that [convince] you to expand your notions about what might be possible in this world,” as she says of one of her subjects. Although the promise of the introduction doesn’t quite carry through to the subsequent articles and essays—some of the magic has leaked out of Kennedy’s writing—this doesn't mean her book doesn't make for fascinating (if too brief) reading. I thoroughly enjoyed the 12 vignettes of oddballs of all kinds, from Dr. Alex Comfort (the eponymous Dr. Sex) to a chatty African Grey parrot, not to mention a couple of MacArthur genius award winners. But where Kennedy really shines is when she writes about her own life and reveals that she too is an oddity, in the best sense of the word. Even though these last three stories are no longer than the others, she delves deeper and her writing is richer, more evocative, juicier. I can’t wait to get my hands on the rest of her books now.

[zibilee_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If I could describe this book in one phrase, it would be this: Touchingly candid. Whether writing about her own life or those of the odd and eccentric, Kennedy recounts her stories with loving detail and wonder. The people she writes about are truly people to ponder and marvel at. She deals with them all with a level of respect normally not afforded to these quirky trendsetters. Throughout their stories, she captures their brilliance, strength and mostly their humanness.Among some of these unusual people are the quiet scientist and doctor Alex Comfort, who created a facet of the modern sexual movement by authoring the book The Joy of Sex. An older, shy man, Comfort reinvents himself as a sexual guru who reclassifies sex as a freedom of expression and who even bases the models in the book upon himself and his partner. She chronicles unknown scientists whose inventions just may relieve the economic pressures of third world countries, and sheds light on the brain bank, an organization at Harvard College that studies donor brains in an effort to understand the organic causes of mental illness. She explores people who are scouting new fuel sources and a man who realizes that children are the scientific future and creates an educational fun house for them. We meet one of the strongest women in the world, and a parrot named Alex with an attitude. Even more revealing are her personal essays, touching on topics of scary vacationing encounters and relationships that defy conventional thinking. Kennedy explores all these subjects with venerable compassion and an infectious marvel that highlights the importance of these people's advancements and uniqueness.I tore through this book, wondering what and who was coming next, and enjoying the exposure to people who would have otherwise been unknown to me. The subjects in this book are fascinating and complex, inspired to make the world sit up and take notice of the unmentionable and unpopular. Some of the stories have hidden glimpses of humor, and some are laugh out loud funny. I particularly enjoyed the story of Vermin Supreme, a quirky and sometimes offensive activist who travels to rallies and protests with a boot strapped to his head, releasing the crowd's tension with his absurdities. The story of the Mystic mechanic, a man who wants all religions to embrace each other and has built a machine to be closer to God, was just as curious as it was humbling.All in all, this book of stories was refreshingly peculiar and winning. It sparked a part of my interest that I didn't know was there, and made me think about the extraordinary people who are lurking behind their everyday facade. Kennedy's graceful style in addressing these compelling people made this book an admirable read. Highly recommended for those who would like an unusual experience.

[needmoreshelves · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What do Dr. Alex Comfort, author of The Joy of Sex, Amy Smith, director of the International Development Initiative at MIT, and Dr. Gordon Sato, former resident of the Manzanar interment camp in California, all have in common? They, along with the other 9 people profiled in this book, are modern-day pioneers, attempting in their own unique ways to "reinvent this country (and others) as a kinder, sexier, smarter, funnier, or more compassionate place." And as the subjects of Pagan Kennedy's essays, they are all fascinating.Pagan Kennedy is the writer we all want to write our biography. She has an incredible way of figuring out what makes each person interesting while still allowing that person to tell their own story. None of her subjects are perfect, but she is so obvious in her compassion for them that we can't help but feel it too. I would love to see several of the chapters expanded into books themselves, because Kennedy has infected me with the desire to know these people and their lives.As an additional treat, the last 3 chapters are personal essays about her own life. Kennedy's writing truly shines in these stories, as she discusses alternative family arrangements, shares a vacation story, and allows us a glimpse of her own family and their quirks. Again, I was left wanting even more. It is always a treat to discover a new author who you can't wait to read again, and Pagan Kennedy certainly falls into that category for me.

[novelbookworm_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex by Pagan Kennedy is a compilation of true stories. Glorying in the eccentricities that all fascinating people share, the stories are compelling, entertaining and yet frequently humble. Often contrasting hubris with humility, Kennedy tells us stories of Dr. Alex Comfort, the author of the Joy of Sex, who in his arrogance thought he could permanently re-work the cultural norms of sexual relationships. She brings us the story of Amy Smith, who uses her genius and common sense to make lives better in the poorest countries on earth. We read of Vermin Supreme, who enjoins the anti war protestors to respond with “A Pony”, when they are asked to join the antiwar chant, “What do we want?”. Kennedy’s stories are uplifting, thought provoking and entertaining.

[rarcar1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Dangerous Joys of Dr. Sex and Other True Stories are 15 short stories written by Pagan Kennedy. The main story is about Alex Comfort, author of the 1970s hit Joys of Sex. Kennedy interviewed Comfort's son Nick for the story and really dug deep into the heart of what inspired Comfort to write such a provocative book. My favorite story was How to Make (Almost) Anything on Saul Griffith. Griffith is an MIT Grad student who is working on a machine to make eye glass lenses for third world countries. He realized after traveling to hand out used glasses to the poor that there was a need for this type of inexpensive equipment and set out to invent it. He is currently working on funding for production. The most inspiring part of his story is that he has created a cartoon for children to inspire them to invent things. When he was a child he would tinker around with miscellaneous items around the house to come up with some type of "machine". He feels that today's kids do not have this same desire due in part to our culture of video games. The comic strip gives the kids ideas on how to become inventors or "mad scientists" while using critical thinking and their imagination. Kennedy really captured the passion of 12 everyday people who are trying to change the world. Often these people are overlooked and not given the credit they deserve for their work. All of them, in some way, are trying to make this world a better place for us. I really enjoyed reading this and look forward to other books written by Pagan Kennedy.

[lenoreva · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Print journalism is divided into two main types of writing, hard news (which uses the Inverted Pyramid, meaning you make sure all the essential information is near the beginning in case some column lines have to be lopped off your article) and feature writing (which is way more fun to write because you get to tell a story with a hook, climax and resolution). I love reading feature stories, especially human interest ones, and I seek them out when I get my hands on an issue of Vanity Fair, Marie Claire, a newspaper, or even People. I also loved “Confessions of a Memory Eater” a novel by Pagan Kennedy. So when I heard that she is putting a new book out which is a collection of some of her feature stories that have appeared in the New Yorker and elsewhere, I knew I had to have a copy. And I was pleased to discover that Pagan’s feature writing is as sharp as her fiction writing – with hooks that grab you and don’t let go.Don’t let the title “The Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex and other stories” or the title story, all about Joy of Sex author Alex Comfort’s unconventional life, turn you off if you’re not into reading that type of thing. You can always skip it and move on to one of the other 11 more G rated stories about exceptional people you may or may not have heard about. There’s the one about Cheryl Haworth, the Olympian weight lifter who won a bronze medal as a teen, whose parents told her and her sisters that girls could do anything. There’s the one about Dr. Gordon Sato, the inventor of a cancer drug, who is now most passionate about planting mangrove forests on the coast of Eritrea to help communities there survive. There’s the one about Conor Oberst, lead singer of Bright Eyes, and his life on the road touring with his band, not in a bus, but in a rented Chevy. All are characters that Pagan portrays so vividly, you really feel like you “get” them.One of my favorite stories, “How to Make (Almost) Anything,” is about Saul Griffith, the author of the book Howtoons for kids. The book was published October 23, 2007 and this story was written before then, but it’s a great behind the scenes look at the origins of Howtoons, a cartoon that shows kids how to build things like an underwater periscope from things like soda bottles that you would just trash anyway.But my favorite stories of all are her three “First Person: Stories from My Own Life” vignettes, especially “The Encyclopedia of Scorpions”. It’s a travelogue adventure story about a kayaking trip she took on a remote desert river and there is so much tension and beauty packed into 17 pages that I almost couldn’t breathe while reading it. As a frequent reader of feature stories, I can assure you that these are top-notch and not to be missed. The story collection comes out on September 1, 2008 so wishlist it now before you forget.

[thetometraveller · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this interesting collection of unexpected true stories Pagan Kennedy introduces us to some eccentric characters. From Alex Comfort, the middle aged mastermind of The Joy of Sex to Vermin Supreme, fringe candidate extraordinaire, the mix is wonderful and thought provoking. Ms. Kennedy hooked me in right away with her introduction. She talks about being read Alice in Wonderland by her Grandmother and wanting to get through the looking glass herself. After an unsuccessful attempt she decides that the secret must lie in the words on the page. A woman after my own heart. This discovery would be part of her future life as a writer. She has a warm and open way of writing that is very easy to read. After twelve true tales that read like fiction, she gives us three short essays about herself and her world. It is a great way to end an interesting and entertaining book.The Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex and Other True Stories will be published by The Santa Fe Writers Project in September, 2008.

[lisalynne_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a very quick and fun read - a collection of Pagan Kennedy's profiles of an interesting cast of characters, along with a few stories from her own life. The title story is an in-depth look at Alex Comfort, author of The Joy of Sex and how that book came to be written. There are profiles of people who are treating depression with nine-volt batteries, people who are converting their cars to run on grease, a man who wants to be Mayor of the United States, and the strongest girl in the world. Most of them aren't famous, most of them are a little crazy, all of them are fascinating in their own way and it is easy to see that Kennedy is delighted by them.