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Sugar in My Bowl

Real Women Write About Real Sex
by Erica Jong
Sugar in My Bowl: Real Women Write About Real Sex. Ecco: HarperCollins. Jun. 2011. c.256p. ed. by Erica Jong. illus. ISBN 9780061875762. $21.99. PSYCH
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Best-selling author and poet Jong (Fear of Flying) compiles a powerful group of essays, stories, and monologs by women on their own sexual experiences. She chose the name of the anthology from traditional blues songs by women who focused on soulfully expressing the feminine sexual experience. The authors write in a variety of styles but are united by a common goal to express their truth and paint vivid pictures of the female experience with stark honesty, leaving out fairy tales and romance. As expected, explicit sexual language is present throughout, as women tackle their obsessions and kinks, lost innocence and enlightenment, and pain and yearnings. "The truth is," Jong shares in her introduction, "sex is life…the part that continues it and makes it bloom."
VERDICT While this is not a comfortable collection, the passion, tragedy, and hope—offered by courageous women who express raw feelings that society tends to silence—will resonate.
Reviewed by Crystal Renfro, Georgia Inst. of Technology Lib., Atlanta , Jun 15, 2011
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