Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (book) explained

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)
Author:David Reuben
Cover Artist:Lawrence Ratzkin
Country:United States
Language:English
Subject:Sex
Genre:Non-fiction
Publisher:McKay[1]
Release Date:June 1969
Media Type:Print
Pages:368 pp.
Isbn:0-06-019267-4
Dewey:306.7 21
Congress:HQ31 .R436 1999
Oclc:30542
Italic Title:no

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) is a book (1969, updated 1999) by California psychiatrist[2] David Reuben. It was one of the first sex manuals that entered mainstream culture in the 1960s, and had a profound effect on sex education and in liberalizing attitudes towards sex.[3] It was "among the top 20 all-time best sellers of the 20th century in the United States".[4]

History

The book was a Number 1 best-seller in 51 countries and reached more than 100 million readers.[3] In 1972, it was parodied by Woody Allen in the comedy film of the same name and received a favorable response from movie critics.[5]

The book had a significant impact. It was favorably reviewed by The New York Times and Life Magazine, and, after a massive book tour, would go on to be #1 on The New York Times bestseller list for 55 weeks. Reuben became a celebrity, guesting, a dozen times,[6] on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

As popular as the book was, it attracted critics in both the clinical world, and the public. The LGBT community objected to negative descriptions of homosexuality in the book (for example, Reuben wrote that gay men were "trying to solve the problem with only half the pieces"; lesbianism was relegated to a brief discussion in a section about prostitution). It was negatively reviewed, with "anti-Semitic overtones",[7] [8] by Gore Vidal,[9] in The New York Review of Books, for its homophobia. In 1972, Playboy magazine published an article purporting to expose 100 errors in the book.[10]

Reuben wrote an updated version ("he says he has altered 96 percent of his first edition"[3]) which was published 30 years later, in 1999 and 2000.[11] In particular, his views on homosexuality, abortion, and pornography were updated.[12] Andrew Tobias reviewed the book, in 1999, for The Advocate.[13] [14] It was reviewed by the Los Angeles Times,[15] The Baltimore Sun,[16] the Chicago Tribune, and others.

Meme

Its curiosity-arousing title and its question-and-answer format has inspired hundreds of similarly titled and formatted research papers.[17]

Jack Benny's "Everything you always wanted to know about Jack Benny, but were afraid to ask" featured Reuben.[18]

Publication information

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) . . 1969-11-14 . 11 . Volume 6, Issue 278 Part Two.
  2. News: Nutrition Book Has Its Ups And Downs . July 5, 2022 . . Arizona . June 30, 1985 . en . The book is written to sell, sell. It amazes me how an M.D. can know "every thing" about medicine (he's a psychiatrist), "everything" about sex (Remember Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask?).
  3. News: Allen . Jamie . Sex doctor David Reuben is back with some new advice . July 5, 2022 . . February 5, 1999 . https://web.archive.org/web/20000823160000/http://www.cnn.com/books/news/9902/11/sex/ . August 23, 2000.
  4. Web site: Luebering . J.E. . best seller . . July 5, 2022 . en . The taboo against sexual explicitness that earlier resulted in censorship or moral disapproval had disappeared by the second half of the 20th century, so that Jacqueline Susann’s novel Valley of the Dolls (1966) and David Reuben’s Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex but Were Afraid to Ask (1969) were both among the top 20 all-time best sellers of the 20th century in the United States..
  5. Web site: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, Movie Reviews. Rotten Tomatoes. January 23, 2012. December 24, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111224163937/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/everything_you_always_wanted_to_know_about_sex_but_were_afraid_to_ask/. live.
  6. News: Diamond . Susan J. . SEQUEL / 'PHENOMENON' AUTHORS : Singular Sensations : Richard Bach, Marabel Morgan and David R. Reuben each wrote one bestseller. Then, despite subsequent efforts, each slipped from the limelight. . July 5, 2022 . . February 1, 1993.
  7. News: Jochnowitz . George . To the Editors: Tribal Sex War . July 5, 2022 . . en . In response to: 'Number One' from the June 4, 1970 issue.
  8. News: November 29: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex . July 5, 2022 . . en.
  9. News: Vidal . Gore . Gore Vidal . Doc Reuben . July 5, 2022 . . June 4, 1970 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110416043452/http://www.gorevidalpages.com/1970/06/gore-vidal-doc-reuben.html . 16 April 2011 . via Gore Vidal Pages.
  10. Web site: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Dr. David Reuben* . Chicago Tribune . February 23, 1999 . 2020-02-19 . 2019-12-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191216020044/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-02-23-9902230330-story.html . live .
  11. Riippa . Karole . Riippa . Laurele . Fall 2000 Mass Market Paperback List . . August 14, 2000 . July 5, 2022 . en . ST. MARTIN'S...Reprints: ... (Oct.): ...Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex... ($7.99) by David Reuben, M.D.;.
  12. Web site: Vinciguerra . Thomas . Word for Word / A Sex Manual, Then and Now; Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Changing With the Times* . The New York Times . March 21, 1999 . February 19, 2020 . January 29, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190129082241/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/21/weekinreview/word-for-word-sex-manual-then-now-everything-you-ever-wanted-know-about-changing.html . live .
  13. News: Tobias . Andrew . Andrew Tobias . https://books.google.com/books?id=o2QEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA63--> Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex but Were Afraid to Ask . July 5, 2022 . . July 20, 1999 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130603124403/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Everything+You+Always+Wanted+to+Know+About+Sex+but+Were+Afraid+to+Ask.-a055183041 . June 3, 2013 . The Free Library.
  14. Web site: nicole . Four Books That Will Mess Up Your Children . Vice Blog . 5 July 2022 . en . October 12, 2009.
  15. News: 30 Years Later, the Subject Is Still Sex . July 5, 2022 . . February 17, 1999.
  16. News: Lavin . Cheryl . https://web.archive.org/web/20150925011558/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1999-02-23/features/9902230330_1_chatty-question-and-answer-format-playboy-channel-chip-rowe http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1999-02-23/features/9902230330_1_chatty-question-and-answer-format-playboy-channel-chip-rowe/2 --> When 'sex book' ceased to be something dirty; Publishing: Everything you always wanted to know about 'Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex' . July 5, 2022 . . March 8, 1999 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210623201157/https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1999-03-08-9903080201-story.html . 23 June 2021.
  17. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=%22Everything+you+always+wanted+to+know+about%22+%22but+were+afraid+to+ask%22&btnG=
  18. News: Psychiatry Good For Audition . July 5, 2022 . . Arizona . March 4, 1971 . 23 . en . Google books.

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