Singular Pleasures
by Harry Mathews
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The subject of this unique book of short fiction is masturbation, a practice both universal and virtually taboo. In sixty-one vignettes, Mathews records the imaginative varieties of this solitary activity in prose that is playful, intimate, urgent, quirky, and humane.Tags
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What pleasure this book gives! I found myself lingering over every turn of Mathew's language and sufficed with affection for those characters with whom we all share a pastime.
A book about masturbation, in the best sense!
And there's me thinking this was about reading.
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58+ Works 2,571 Members
Harry Mathews was born in New York City on February 14, 1930. He attended Princeton University in 1947, but left in his sophomore year to join the United States Navy. Once his military service was completed, he received a B.A. in music from Harvard University in 1952. He was the only American to become a member of Oulipo, an experimental group of show more French writers and mathematicians who believe constrained writing techniques are the key to invention. He was an author and editor of the Paris Review literary magazine. His novels included The Conversions, My Life in CIA, and The Solitary Twin. He died on January 25, 2017 at the age of 86. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- 257,938
- Reviews
- 3
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- (3.34)
- Languages
- 8 — English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian (Bokmål), Polish, Swedish
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- 13



























































