The Multi-Orgasmic Couple: Sexual Secrets Every Couple Should Know. By Mantak Chia, Maneewan Chia, Douglas Abrams, and Rachel Carlton Abrams. New York: HarperCollins, 2000. xvi + 204 pp., illustrations, notes, resources. Hardback, ISBN 0-06-251613-2, $24.00.

Abstract

I think he would allow that I have the right to get out of the passenger seat and tell him what I felt we did not see. First, after the historical and literary romp, it would have been very interesting to hear contemporary voices about castration besides that of Taylor. A quick check on the Internet reveals that those voices are available. Perhaps this is work for someone in the sexological field. Second, although Taylor kicks against the symbolic aspects of castration, the fact is that we live with it. Here, again, our society is examining the implications of Freud's statement that anatomy is destiny. Westerners are engaged in a serious sexual revolution and, in the process, are encountering the sexual mores and practices of other cultures. Much is being written about female and male sexual mutilation and sexual oppression. Granting that this is not Taylor's subject, he displays too keen a facility of comprehension to leave it unmentioned-or at least issue the challenge to others. Third, in a brilliant examination of Matthew 19:12, Taylor presents a literal interpretation of Jesus' positive statement about eunuchs. He does a masterful job at linking those sayings and actions of Jesus, as well as connecting him to the celibate Essene sect at Qumram. No, I will not summarize here since it would be like telling you the end of a mystery novel. However, again Taylor becomes fascinated with the analysis and in tilting with the allegorical interpretations. There are tantalizing "what ifs," but no creative posits or handoffs. A bit of arrogance here, I think. Alas, I guess that finally Taylor has rubbed up against my defenses. What I am getting at is that with all his outstanding qualities, Taylor does not see beyond his own construct. It feels as if he is trapped in the magnificent birdcage he has constructed. In gaining mastery over his subject, Taylor creates a feeling of intellectual claustrophobia. What is missing in this book is the reality that neither the thinkers of old, nor the traditions they spawned, nor new ideas or "discoveries," nor contemporary experiences are mute. They are in constant dialogue and potentially corrective and I or corroborative. What is missing are the signs of hope that there is growing a strategy of dialogue that makes room in the conversation for many perspectives and welcomes people in the interpretative loop who are often left out or marginalized. Taylor has placed himself boldly into this conversation, and he should be warmly welcomed. He will find the company diverse and complex. I am sure he will bring A Game of Chess or some other obscure Elizabethan play into the dialogue-even brilliantly. And others will share their divining rod with him. So, if you are looking for a book well written with ideas clearly presented, with a vocabulary that shuns the trite formulas of psycho-scholar chant, where a paragraph is a paragraph and there is nary a sentence that ends with (High, Higher & Highest, 2001) but just a period, Gary Taylor delivers. Let the dialogue begin.