The Sexual Life of Catherine M. (Books That Changed the World) (Serpent's Tail Classics)

by Catherine Millet

Hailed as "the most explicit book about sex ever written by a woman" (Edmund White), The Sexual Life of Catherine M. has become the most controversial book on sexuality since The Story of O. Millet, the editor of Art Press, has led an extraordinarily active sexual life -- from alfresco encounters in Italy to a gang bang on the edge of the Bois du Boulogne, to a high-class orgy at a Parisian restaurant. Her highly graphic account is a relentlessly honest look at the consequences of sex stripped of sentiment and a fearless unmasking of the fallacies and disturbing truths of female sexuality.

• ISBN10: 0802117163
• ISBN13: 9780802117168
• Publish Date: 9 June 2002 (first published 6 June 2002)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 10 December 2011
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 209
• Language: English

Reviews

[celinenyx]

A reader looking for something tantalizing to read, will find little stimulation in The Sexual Life of Catherine M. Though containing highly graphic sexual content, Catherine's encounters are described with a distance that is unlike pornography or erotica. Instead, she seems to be trying to make sense of her sexual proclivities (which include group sex, exhibitionism, and various masochistic tendencies) and the position of her mind and body within these.

I found her memoirs fascinating, because they kept reminding me of the psychology book Escaping the Self by Baumeister. The distance Catherine experiences when engaging in sexual acts, where she completely loses a sense of identity and becomes a mere body, sounds strikingly like the loss of self that Baumeister describes in his book. Not being an elaborate, thinking, rational self is liberating.

You hardly ever find complete darkness, and people actually usually prefer the vagueness of half light. I myself would like total blackout because I could then experience the pleasure of sinking into a sea of undifferentiated flesh. (...) I am not afraid of being glimpsed unawares because my body is but a mingling part of the air around it and the continuum of other bodies connected to it. (p. 99)

On the other hand, the complete lack of intimacy and emotional connection that Catherine expresses ultimately make her encounters seem cold and empty. She lets herself be led completely by others, and never seems to act on her own desire.

I just left everything up to chance. I paid no more attention to the quality of sexual relationships. In cases where they didn't give me much pleasure, or they even bothered me in some way, or when the man made me do things which weren't really to my liking, that wasn't reason enough to call them into question. (p. 199-200)

What I did find refreshing was that she feels no guilt or shame whatsoever for her unconventional life style. The Sexual Life of Catherine M. is not a confession, nor does it preach or attempt conversion to a certain lifestyle. Some readers might find its contents morally objectionable, however, especially as Catherine does not mind sleeping with other people's spouses, should they cross her path.