Saturday, October 22, 2005

Kim Cattrall's exploration of sexual intelligence

Amy Verner’s review of Kim Cattrall’s new book Sexual Intelligence published by Greystone/Madison, was headlined, “Sex on the coffee table” in the Globe and Mail, Saturday 8 October 2005, page L5. Sexual Intelligence is the companion volume for a TV special to air on CTV’s Discovery Channel this fall.

Verner said, “It's as if her public relations-savvy Samantha Jones character from Sex and the City has transformed into an academic, drawing on the writings of four published researchers and the anecdotes of seven real people (incidentally, Torontonians) to create a lighthearted dissertation.”

Verner added, “Just don't call her a 'sexpert,' as she will quickly defer the credit to Thomas Moore, Dr. Michael Bader, Dr. Betty Dodson and Maggie Paley, as well as her production partner, Amy Briamonte. As she writes in her introduction, ‘Like sex, making books and documentaries, I've found, is a deeply collaborative effort.’"

In her review of Cattrall’s book for Amazon.com, Jill Lightner wrote, “Gorgeously sensual photos and a sprinkling of poetry cozy up to science, combining experts like Betty Dodson and Thomas Moore with Sappho and Georgia O'Keefe; this time around, the goal is exploration, rather than instant delivery.”

Amazon.com also offers an interview with Cattrall and asks, “Of the five chapters (Desire, Messaging, Arousal, Fantasy and Release), the one on desire is by far the longest. What makes this topic so much more important?” Cattrall said that "desire" is the main theme of the book.

Echoing sentiments expressed by Thomas Moore in various writings, Cattrall continued, “The classical era of Greece and Rome are endlessly fascinating because those cultures so openly celebrated sex on both a literal and a metaphorical level. Their worship of the phallus mines a very rich vein of human drives and drama. The mythical figure of Aphrodite or Venus, the great Goddess of love, is an invention of pure cultural genius in how well it expresses the complexity, allure and power of sexuality.”