The Joy of Sex was a ground-breaking illustrated sex manual by Alex Comfort, M.D., Ph.D., first published in 1972. It was the first illustrated, serious such manual to gain wide distribution—at least in modern America. (One might argue, for instance, that the Kama Sutra provided somewhat similar information over 1,000 years before.) Earlier works, such as the 1966 Human Sexual Response by William H. Masters & Virginia E. Johnson, were more circumspect and clinical. Conversely, The Joy of Sex is rather circumspect and clinical in comparison to The Guide to Getting it On, published 20 years later. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Sex manuals are books which explain how to perform sexual intercourse and other sexual practices. ... Alexander Comfort (February 10, 1920 - March 26, 2000) was a medical professional, anarchist, pacifist and writer, best known for The Joy of Sex, which played a part in what is often called the sexual revolution. ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... Kamasutram, generally known to the Western world as Kama Sutra, is an ancient Indian text widely considered to be the standard work on love in Sanskrit literature. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... Sexual arousal is the process and state of an animal being ready for sexual intercourse. ... The Guide to Getting it On is a sex guide by Paul Joannides, A/Prof Jamie Ciesluk, illustrated by Daerick Gross. ...

The Joy of Sex spent eleven weeks at the top of the New York Times bestseller list and more than 70 weeks in the top five (1972–1974). The New York Times Best Seller List is a weekly chart in The New York Times newspaper that keeps track of the best-selling books of the week. ...

The original intention was to use the same mainstream approach as such books as The Joy of Cooking, hence section titles include "starters" and "main courses". The book features sexual practices such as oral sex and various sex positions as well as bringing "farther out" practices as sexual bondage and swinging to the attention of the general public. The Joy of Cooking is one of the worlds most-published cookbooks, having been in print continuously since 1936. ... Oral sex consists of all sexual activities that involve the use of the mouth, which may include use of the tongue, teeth, and throat, to stimulate genitalia. ... This list of sex positions includes descriptions of various forms of sexual intercourse and other sexual acts between people. ... A model in bondage cuffs with a leg spreader In the context of BDSM, bondage involves people being tied up or otherwise restrained for pleasure. ... Swinging, sometimes referred to as the swinging lifestyle, is non-monogamous sexual activity, treated much like any other social activity, that can be experienced as a couple. ...

The original version contained numerous illustrations by Chris Foss based on original photographs of the book's art director and his wife. The illustrations have become somewhat dated, mainly because of changes in hairstyles. Both the illustrations and text are titillating as well as illustrative, in contrast to the bland, clinical style of earlier books about sex. More recent editions feature new artwork, and added text emphasizing safer sex. Christopher Foss (born 1946) is a British illustrator and science fiction artist, best known for his science fiction book covers and the illustrations for the original editions of The Joy of Sex. ... Safe sex (also called safer sex) is a term describing practices designed to reduce the risk of sustaining or imparting sexually-transmitted infections (STIs) (also known as sexually-transmitted diseases or STDs in the US). ...

Although the original took a negative view of practices such as anal sex, newer versions reversed previously-supportive positions on topics such as swinging as extensive textual changes were made at the height of the 1980's AIDS panic. Roman men having anal sex. ... Swinging, sometimes referred to as the swinging lifestyle, is non-monogamous sexual activity, treated much like any other social activity, that can be experienced as a couple. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS or Aids) is a collection of symptoms and infections resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). ...

A Phillips CD-i version was released in 1996, the first Entertainment Software Rating Board AO-rated console game. The CD-i (short for Compact Disc Interactive, also known as Green Book), was a multimedia format released in 1991, created primarily by Philips and to a lesser extent Sony, though only Philips proceeded to market products. ... Entertainment Software Rating Board logo The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that applies and enforces ratings, advertising guidelines, and online privacy principles for computer and video games and other entertainment software in the United States and Canada (officially adopted by individual provinces 2004-2005). ...

The Joy of Sex did not address homosexual sex beyond a definitional level. Though there was a careful (for the day) treatment of bondage, other BDSM activities received definitional coverage at best. The book played a part in what is often called the sexual revolution. Gay sex is a part of some males sexual needs, it is very popular in China and Greenland. ... A collar is a common symbol in BDSM. Female bottom in bondage with leather monoglove BDSM is any of a number of related patterns of human sexual behavior. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Editions include:

• The Joy of Sex 1972
• More Joy of Sex (sequel, reissued in 1991 as ISBN 0-671-74076-8)
• The Joy of Sex ISBN 1-84000-042-2
• The Joy of Sex, Revised Edition ISBN 0-7043-8032-3
• The New Joy of Sex 1992 ISBN 0-517-59910-4 ISBN 0-671-77859-5"
• The Joy of Sex, 30th anniversary edition ISBN 1-84000-556-4, paperback ISBN 0-7434-7774-X, pocket ISBN 1-84000-606-4
• The Joy of Sex, 30th anniversary ISBN 1-84000-785-0
• Pocket Joy of Sex ISBN 1-84000-748-6
• El placer del sexo (The Joy of Sex) 2003 ISBN 1-4000-5931-3 en español

Unrelated works (similar in title): Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

• The Job of Sex (A Workingman's guide to Productive Lovemaking illustrated with pictures) (National Lampoon (author) and Brian McConnachie (ed.))
• The Joy of Gay Sex ISBN 0-06-001273-0 (Charles Silverstein; Edmund White)
• The Joy of Lesbian Sex ISBN 0-517-53159-3 (Emily L. Sisley; Bertha Harris)
• The Joy of Sets ISBN 0-38794-094-4 (Keith Devlin)
• The Joy of Signing ISBN 0-88243-520-5 (Lottie L. Riekehof)
• The Joy of Tex ISBN 0-82182-997-1 (Michael Spivak)
• The Joy of Writing Sex ISBN 1-884910-21-1 (Elizabeth Benedict)
• The Joy of X ISBN 0-20156-512-9 (Niall Mansfield)
• The New Joy of Gay Sex ISBN 0-85449-214-3 (Charles Silverstein; Felice Picano)

The Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten, also similarly titled, was actually published four years earlier. January 1973 cover of National Lampoon National Lampoon was an American humor magazine that began in 1970 as an offshoot of the Harvard Lampoon. ... Charles Silverstein, Dr., author. ... Edmund Valentine White III (born January 13, 1940) is a novelist, short-story writer and critic. ... Keith Devlin is an English mathematician and writer. ... Michael David Spivak is a mathematician specializing in differential geometry, an expositor of mathematics, and the founder of Publish-or-Perish Press. ... Felice Picano, gay American writer Born in New York. ... The Joys of Yiddish is a lexicon of common words and phrases in the Yiddish language, primarily focusing on those words that had become known to speakers of American English due to the influence of American Jews. ... Leo Calvin Rosten (April 11, 1908–February 19, 1997) was born on 11 April 1908 in Lodz, Russian Empire (now Poland) and died on 19 February 1997 in New York. ...

Cultural references

• In an episode of That '70s Show. Kitty wants Red to have more adventurous "walks in the park." She uses The Joy of Sex as her manual.

• A late 2004 issue of Time Magazine blared "The Joy Of Sox" on the cover, in celebration of the Boston Red Sox winning the World Series.

• In the movie The Other Sister, the mentally-challenged title character and her boyfriend approach sex for the first time with "The Joy of Sex" as their guide.

• An episode of The Simpsons is titled "The Joy of Sect", a pun on The Joy of Sex.

• In the Family Guy movie, Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, Stewie and Stu read from The Joy of Sex.

• The composer Milton Babbitt has written two famous works entitled "Sextets" and "The Joy of More Sextets". Both works are for violin and piano (not sextet).

• A book on set theory by Keith Devlin was named The Joy of Sets: Fundamentals of Contemporary Set Theory.

• The VH1 series I Love the 70s covered "The Joy of Sex", and like all the segments, had the celebrity commentators either read passages or comment on their rememberances of the book.

• Canadian law professors S. Beaulac, S.G.A. Pitel and J. Schulz published a textbook on tort law entitled The Joy of Torts.

• In Terry Pratchett's Discworld, Gytha (or Nanny) Ogg writes a cookbook called The Joye of Snacks (in Maskerade), which is subsequently banned.

• An episode of Pinky and the Brain includes Brain reading a book entited The Joy of Sects.

• In the novel The Pact by Jodi Picoult, nine-year-old Christopher Harte steals this book from the library.

• The LucasArts graphic adventure game Monkey Island 2 features a voodoo spell book entitled The Joy of Hex.

That 70s Show is an American television sitcom that centers on the lives of a group of teenagers living in Point Place, Wisconsin, a fictional suburb of Kenosha, Wisconsin[1][2] from May 17, 1976 to December 31, 1979. ... Kitty laughing her trademark laugh. ... Reginald Albert Forman (born December 7, 1927), commonly known as Red, is a fictional character on The FOX Networks That 70s Show. ... (Clockwise from upper left) Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ... Simpsons redirects here. ... The Joy of Sect is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons ninth season. ... Family Guy is an Emmy award winning American animated television series about a nuclear family in the fictional town of Quahog (IPA or ), Rhode Island. ... Milton Byron Babbitt (born May 10, 1916) is an American composer. ... Set theory is the mathematical theory of sets, which represent collections of abstract objects. ... Keith Devlin is an English mathematician and writer. ... VH1 (VH-1: Video Hits One until 1994) is an American cable television channel that was created in January 1985 by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communications and owners of MTV. VH1 and sister channel MTV are currently part of the MTV Networks division... I Love the 70s is a television mini-series originally produced by the BBC, and later for American audiences by VH-1 which is the sister series to I Love the 80s and explains such stories about the 1970s. ... In the common law, a tort is a civil wrong for which the law provides a remedy. ... Terence David John Pratchett OBE (born April 28, 1948, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England[1]) is an English fantasy author, best known for his Discworld series. ... Cover of an early edition of The Colour of Magic; art by Josh Kirby Discworld is a comedic fantasy book series by the British author Terry Pratchett set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which are in turn standing on the back of... Maskerade is the eighteenth novel in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Jodi Picoult Jodi Picoult (IPA pronunciation: [1]) (born 1966) is an American author. ... LucasArts is an American video game developer and publisher. ... Adventure is a genre of video games typified by exploration, puzzle-solving, interaction with game characters, and a focus on narrative rather than reflex-based challenges. ... Monkey Island 2: LeChucks Revenge (MI2), was the second game of the Monkey Island series and the sixth by LucasArts to use the SCUMM engine. ... Voodoo (Vodou, Vodoun, Vudu, or Vudun in Benin, Togo, southeastern Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Senegal; also Vodou in Haiti) is a name attributed to a traditionally uten West African spiritual system of faith and ritual practices. ... Look up hex in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

References

• John Bear, The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times bestsellers since the first list, 50 years ago, Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1992