Sugar in My Bowl: Real Women Write About Real Sex

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I need a little sugar in my bowl,I need a little hot dog, on my rollI can stand a bit of lovin’, oh so bad,I feel so funny, I feel so sad—Bessie SmithWhen it comes to sex, what do women want? In this eye-opening and courageous collection, Erica Jong reveals that every woman has her own answer. Susan Cheever talks about the “excruciating hazards of casual sex,” while Gail Collins recounts her Catholic upbringing in Cincinnati and the nuns who passionately forbade her from having “carnal relations.” In “Everything Must Go,” Jennifer Weiner explores how, in love, the body can play just as big a role as the heart. The octogenarians in Karen Abbott’s sharp-eyed piece possess a passion that could give Betty White a run for her money. Molly Jong-Fast reflects on her unconventional upbringing and why a whole generation of young women have rejected “free love” in favor of Bugaboo strollers and Mommy-and-me yoga. Sex, it turns out, can be as fleeting, heavy, mundane, and intense as the rest of life. Indeed, Jong states in her powerful introduction “the truth is—sex is life.”ContributorsErica JongKaren AbbottAnne RoipheJessica WinterJann TurnerJulie KlamSusan KinsolvingSusie BrightFay WeldonLinda Gray SextonElisa AlbertBarbara VictorDaphne MerkinMarisa Acocella MarchettoMin Jin LeeHonor MooreJennifer WeinerGail CollinsLiz SmithRebecca WalkerJean Hanff KorelitzEve EnslerMeghan O’RourkeRosemary DaniellJ. A. K. AndresMolly Jong-FastSusan CheeverAriel LevyMargot Magowan