A book about a woman with a very unusual profession, and another book about a married man who’s trying to make it work… for better or for worse. By Karley Sciortino
1) HOW TO BE A HUSBAND
I’ve been a fan of Tim Dowling for a decade now. When I lived in England, I would look forward every week to his column in the Guardian Weekend Magazine—a laugh-out-loud column about his life as an American man who, seemingly accidentally, ended up as a husband and father, living in England with his sharp-witted British wife. I loved his over-sharey, self-deprecating style, and his column was an influence of my early writing on Slutever. Actually, long time readers of this site might remember that the tag-line on the old Slutever header read “this is a blog intended to trick strangers into thinking that my life is more exciting than it actually is,” which is actually a line I basically stole from Tim Dowling (I changed the wording slightly, but I’m pretty sure it would still be considered theft).
Anyway, I just plowed through Dowling’s new book, How to be a Husband, in two days. It’s so funny. The book is not too far off from his column—it’s essentially Dowling’s take on modern family life, parenthood, and marriage. It’s sort of a memoir—starring his acerbic wife and precocious children—and part journalism, full of interesting information about marriage, and how the institution and what it means to society has changed over the years. And there’s some bits of advice in the book, too (usually coming with a disclaimer). And while this might seem like a book written for men, it’s really for everyone—at it’s heart, it’s a book about finding love and figuring out how the fuck to make it last… for better or for worse.
I 100% recommend this book. (Maybe a good Father’s Day present?) You can buy it HERE :)
2) SEX IN THE MUSEUM
Sex in the Museum is a juicy new book by Sarah Forbes, the long-time curator at New York’s Museum of Sex—an unusual job title, for sure. The book is part memoir and part sex-ed, filled with enlightening and bizarre anecdotes from her years as a “curator of sex,” as she calls herself. (BTW, if you live in NYC and have never been to the Museum of Sex, you should def go—lots of learning and loling, and there’s a bouncy castle made of boobs. However, watch out because if you’re like me you’ll end up spending $200 in the gift shop… although my “sex makes me thirsty” mug is one of the best things I own.)
In the book, Sarah takes readers to suburban garages where men and women build sex machines, factories that make sex toys, and deep into the steamy archives of erotica collectors. She asks: When it comes to sex, what is good, bad, deviant, normal? And really, do such terms even apply? And Sarah’s own story, of finding love and starting a family, acts as a backdrop to all the sexy stuff.
You can buy the book HERE :)