this book makes you think about not keeping a diary ( )

Unusual writing style but still a quick read... Brought up some interesting issues but still seemed like there was something missing. ( )

A fascinating, thought provoking and raw book that takes a look at one woman yet I think probably represents many women in the modern world.
This is a quasi-diary of a woman who questions herself and her sexuality, wondering why it is that for her sex is more about pleasing her partner than gaining any physical pleasure herself, and if she can change this. She embarks on an affair that changes her life profoundly, not only in that it opens her up to thinking about sexual pleasure in a new way, but thinking about life and how she is living it.
This book reminded me a lot of Josephine Hart's 'Damage'. Like that book 'The Bride Stripped Bare' is an exercise in dry, stripped prose used to describe something full and sensual. Also like 'Damage' I found that this is one of the few pieces of erotica in the English language that actually works because it is well written and explores the motivations of the characters, rather than just getting into the physicality of the act. When the author finally comes to write about the central characters sex with her lover, it is all the more powerful and arousing for knowing how this fits into her life and mental landscape.
And like any great book, it leaves you asking questions of yourself after you have finished reading. ( )

I started it and quite seriously couldn't stop. I don't share quite the desires that the protagonist does but just enough of the comments hit closer to home than expected... ( )

I saw references to this book all over the place while in Australia and felt I had to read it and was really surprised by it. It is not the usual kind of book I would like but I thought it was well written. The relationships between the main characters are brilliantly described particularly that of the main character and her one and only female friend. Worth reading to see whether you think it is a healthy friendship or not, let alone for the account of her sexual awakening which is what the book is famous for. ( )