Richard Freeman's Batteries Not Included
Three For All
by Spence

I've recently run across three books that would be right at home on any sex student's shelves. All different, but each with a unique take on sexuality and eroticism that makes them, collectively, a hot little trio.

First up is Josey Vogels' My Messy Bedroom: Love And Sex In The '90s (Vehicule Press, 1995), a collection of her columns from Hour magazine. I'd never heard of Vogels or Hour before, and was drawn to the book by the cover photo of her straddling a man in bed, giving us a seemingly never-ending view of her cleavage. This told me two things: The content would be mostly heterosexual (true), and Vogels is not apologetic about her sexuality (also true). While neither of those things is revolutionary, and the writing never reaches the political pitch that Susie Bright has, or the hilarity I love Cynthia Heimel for, this collection holds together nicely and is a sound indicator of lots of '90s trends for singles. What kept me reading was Vogels' optimism about love and sex, which came through in every meat-market nightmare story or hideous break-up or obsession tale.

At a time when prohibition and pessimism rule the public's view of sex, reading this felt so refreshing. Wow! You mean she had a fight with her boyfriend and they're actually going to try and work it out?? She's not going on the Jenny Jones show to formally swear off men? Yay! Not that I'd mind an up-close peek at that cleavage. I'm content to root for Josey V. from the sexual sidelines, though—if she keeps loving and fighting and writing like this, she's going to be a heavy hitter, and I'll want to say I was reading her way back when.

Next in the stacks is Dr. Jack Morin's The Erotic Mind (Harper Perennial, 1996). If My Messy Bedroom is summer seaside reading for sexperts, The Erotic Mind is what they curl up with by the fire on long winter nights. This is intense reading and, I should warn you, not terrifically sexy. But what Morin lacks in cleavage he more than makes up for in intellect and intuition. This isn't a sexual how-to, rather it's a how-come—an exploration of why certain themes are erotically charged for certain people, and what we can do to further explore and tweak these archetypes. Morin is a sex therapist, so the book is peppered liberally with case studies, which are then used to illuminate his larger points and show how we, the readers, can use the same principles for self-exploration and, hopefully, some long-term sexual healing. While the theories presented here are somewhat academic and Jungian, Morin writes in a chatty, inclusive style that reveals and explains his points as he makes them. I love books written like this because I'm usually such a clod when it comes to reading theory—I felt invited to the party all the way through The Erotic Mind, and it inspired me to study my own fantasies and sexual responses more closely (if such a thing is possible...).

A friend recently remarked to me that she was "getting somewhat tired" of Susie Bright because "she yells out one loudmouth opinion, then turns around and yells out the exact opposite just as loud." Well, maybe it's the first glimmers of spring outside my window, but I like that quality in a Sexpert. And I'm happy to report that there's a new pile of facts and opinions to sift through and savor in the form of her latest book: Susie Bright's Sexual State Of The Union. The title is only somewhat punny—the book does examine the national sexual psyche in essays about the media and pornography, the warped coverage given to the two lesbians murdered in Medford, OR, and our national obsession with child-kidnappings. Bright does think globally, and these essays are taut, lucid, and well-argued. She has a talent for taking very serious subject matter and making it understandable and even entertaining without watering down her opinions. But it's when she fucks locally, or rather writes about her own experience to illustrate a larger point that the writing is at its best.

This book represents a departure from previous collections in some ways. It's being put out in hardcover by Simon and Schuster, who have published some Bright-edited erotica collections, but never a collection of her essays before. Could this mean the mainstream media is finally beginning to "get it"? Major motion pictures about Larry Flynt and Howard Stern seem to support that theory, but Susie Bright is, for me, in a separate class. Her above-board honesty, humor and compassion, combined with her righteous political rage make this a stellar book. My pal's complaint that she changes her views too often doesn't ring true for me—what I see here is a woman attempting the impossible: chronicling our national sexual evolution at a time when "facts" are shaky at best. More power to her—and all of us!