Chris Donaghue

I got a whole 13% into this one. And that was probably about 10% further than I knew I should have gone.

I guess what I was looking for in this book was a more professional treatise on modern sexuality, delving into why shaming and repression occurs. That's what the description said to me anyway.

What I got was paragraph after paragraph of gross generalizations. The worst ones were the rants about therapists (no supporting evidence, just a rant) who he saw as trying to fit everyone who came to their office into a box. I have no idea about the validity of his argument, but reading a tell-off of a profession the author looked down on wasn't enjoyable and just made the author come off looking like a know-it-all child.

The thing that really killed this book for me though were the several allusions to how cheaters were actually the healthy people in society because they were showing an embrace of their sexuality. Yeah... He says that since divorce and cheating rates are so high, there must be something wrong with society and not the individuals. I just can't even.

The one quote I thought was spot on: "The idea that somehow it's your fault that you have certain sexual proclivities leads to victim blaming, as individuals are held responsible for not meeting cultural standards." I didn't agree with how he was using the concept, which is totally a subjective issue on my end, but that idea is a strong one.

Between that and the willy-nilly throwing around of words like "stupidity" and "ridiculous" to describe concepts outside his worldview, I decided this book was his personal circle-jerk, and that I would not get anything out of had I finished.

Copy courtesy of BenBella Books, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review… (más)