Marlon and Jake dive into one of literature's trickiest subjects: sex. Why do some writers capture intimacy with honesty while others veer into the unintentionally hilarious? Along the way, they discuss why writing about sex is really writing about people, the differences between American and French attitudes toward sexuality in fiction, ghost stories as a vehicle for taboo desires, and the delicate balance between telling the truth and keeping readers engaged. Tune in for a conversation about why the best writing on sex is rarely just about sex.
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Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth
“The Diamond Mine” by Nadine Gordimer
The Late Bourgeois World by Nadine Gordimer
Death of Venice by Thomas Mann
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig
Miracle of the Rose by Jean Genet
Maurice by E. M. Forster
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Ernesto by Umberto Saba
Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
London Fields by Martin Amis
The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe
Sex and the Single Girl by Helen Gurley Brown
G. by John Berger
Flashman series
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
The Old Devils by Kingsley Amis
The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Jaws by Peter Benchley