{"product_id":"9781849354967","title":"Polymath","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWe have so much more to learn about (the author of) \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Joy of Sex\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e!, this biography covers it all: the life of a young poet, pacifism, anarchist activism, academic life, the 60s counterculture, starting over in California, \u003ci\u003eThe Joy of Sex\u003c\/i\u003e, aging and death.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePolymath\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is the first biography of one of the most remarkable and wide-ranging intellectuals of the second half of the 20th century. Alex Comfort was a British poet, novelist, biologist, cultural critic, activist, and anarchist, and the author of the international bestseller, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Joy of Sex\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. He played a vital role in making gerontology (the study of aging) a viable branch of modern science, energizing the direct-action movement for nuclear disarmament, revitalizing anarchism as a political philosophy in the post-World War II decades, and persuading 12 million readers of his most popular book to banish guilt and anxiety from sex in favor of pleasure and closer human understanding. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Joy of Sex\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e spent eleven weeks atop the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eNYT\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e bestseller list—and seventy-two weeks in the top five. But the book took on a life of its own as a couple generations of youth and adults used \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Joy of Sex\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e as a tool to understand pleasure outside the realm of guilt and shame and opened the doors to a healthier sexual culture. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eComfort liked to say that everything he did was part of \"one big project\": to bring about a new consciousness, grounded in science, of the importance of personal responsibility in human relationships, including the obligation to disobey when authority was being exercised abusively. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003ePolymath\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e traces the intersection in Comfort's life and work between biology and literature, anarchism and humanism, sex and sociality, and how his writings, research, and activism \u003c\/span\u003econtinue to shed critical light on the moral and political choices we make today.\u003cspan\u003e Laursen's book relates the event-filled life of a brilliant and complex figure, including his victory over a possibly career-ending disability, his tumultuous second marriage, his struggles with the scientific establishment, and the fascinating story of the making of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Joy of Sex\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. It will be vital reading for anyone who wants to understand how the personal became political and the political became personal in the last 100 years.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Eric Laursen","offers":[{"title":"AK Press |  Paperback \/ softback | Trade paperback (US) |  2023-09-01","offer_id":44230037471487,"sku":"9781849354967","price":50.95,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0329\/9075\/7001\/files\/BNCImageAPI_2b3136b9-194a-418d-b2c9-133c6e570773.jpg?v=1692990021","url":"https:\/\/riverbookshop.com\/products\/9781849354967","provider":"River Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}