The Joy of Sex Insights

The must-read analysis of the key insights from "The Joy of Sex" by Alex Comfort — presented by Athena.

The nearly 50-year-old “sex bible” completely updated for modern times with all the practical information and clear-eyed advice for having deeply satisfying sex.

More than four decades ago, "The Joy of Sex" landed in bookstores with a bang — never before had sex and intimacy been laid out in such detail and with such forthrightness. Today, it's still the go-to guide, thanks to its careful updating and still relevant lack of inhibition. Author Alex Comfort argues that good sex should be a lot like this book: imaginative, entertaining, and embarked upon in an atmosphere of open communication.

When it was first published in 1972, Dr. Alex Comfort’s "The Joy of Sex" wasn’t just a revelation, it sparked a revolution. Much of this was due to its frank tone in discussing sex and desire — and its explicit illustrations. Designed like a cookbook, this “gourmet guide” promised to turn heterosexual couples who were the sexual equivalent of amateur cooks into master chefs.

In 1991, nine years before his death, Comfort revised the book to respond to the changing times. In 2008, “the ultimate revised edition” was published with the help of sex expert and relationship psychologist Susan Quilliam.

Besides adding updates ranging from Viagra to internet porn, Quilliam’s intent was to focus more on female pleasure, which had been sidelined in Comfort’s earlier versions. She also removed some of the more outdated passages and replaced the illustrations to feature a more modern (less hairy) couple. Still the the main objective of the book, which has been translated into 22 languages and spent six and a half years on the New York Times bestseller list, remains the same: to provide a credible, authoritative source of information for a society bombarded by confusing messages and impossible expectations around sex.