The Lifestyle: A Look At The Erotic Rites Of Swingers (2000) - Plot & Excerpts
"The Lifestyle is a delight to read - a groundbreaking and honest work of journalism that thoroughly explains why millions of people are part of this little-known subculture called 'swinging.' Indeed, Mr. Gould has accomplished something rare: his extensive research into the anthropology and sociobiology of spouse exchange has allowed him to broaden his descriptions of swing parties to include deeply significant explanations for what takes place at them. Few journalists have gained permission to enter that world, and none have explained it in such depth. 'The Lifestyle' is an entertaining, on-the-scene narrative, but it is also a serious work which should be read by all who want to understand what this growing phenomenon is all about." - Josef P. Skala, m.d., ph.d., frcp(c), Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia
"It is clearly the most objective and well-researched work on the subject we have seen." - a swinging couple interviewed for EXTRA
The lifestyle has grown so quickly in recent years that, wherever you live, you won't have trouble finding it. It is not an underground movement or a cult. It is a public, grass-roots, heterosexual orientation among mainstream couples who claim to have overcome the kind of loneliness, jealousy, and shame adulterous marrieds endure. (from The Lifestyle) )
"I hate when jerks call the lifestyle wife swapping," Jim averred. "I hate that term and what it implies. By that I mean a woman being forced into something because her husband says, 'Look honey, let's go.' To me that's abuse. That's opposite to what the lifestyle is all about." (from The Lifestyle)
What are millions of middle-class couples getting up to this weekend? Is it possible to experience sex with other partners while happily ensconced in an emotionally monogamous marriage? Is swinging merely an invention of sexually permissive modern times?
As award-winning journalist Terry Gould discovered, the phenomenon has roots that go back thousands of years and also seems to be motivated by a deeper biological urge: the drive to seek long-term partners and the equally powerful drive for sexual and genetic variety.
Part expose and certainly a debunking of the 'wife-swapping' myth, The Lifestyle is a serious examination of a taboo subject, brought forward intelligently, compassionately, without sensationalism or judgment, and backed by extensive research across North America.
It includes numerous interviews with the originators and leaders of the Lifestyle movement. It is also a wide - ranging inquiry into the history and nature of monogamy, sexuality and erotic love.
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