Friday, August 7, 2009

Masters of Sex


Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, the Couple who Taught America How to Love


The cover makes this look like a pornographic book, which made reading it while on work breaks an interesting experience. ("What on earth are you reading?!") I was interested in learning more about Masters & Johnson since they had such an effect on the way Americans view sex and related matters. However, I was mistaken when I thought there was a more psychological aspect to their research and that they really looked more at the link between love and sex. That's what I really wanted to read about--and especially to see what type of relationship the couple themselves had. What I found is that they really didn't study love and love itself eluded both researchers for most of their lives. In fact, there are several quotes from both about not knowing what love is. The fact that they themselves were married to each other for twenty years makes it in fact quite sad. I was intrigued reading about the various romantic relationships each was a part of in their lives, but otherwise this was a very dry account of their professional careers. Parts were interesting and I learned a lot more about their research than I knew before reading, but it wasn't particularly enjoyable. Again, if they'd been able to find love themselves, it would've been more enjoyable.

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