Emmanuelle

Book excerpt: A young woman discovers the boundless potential of her sexuality in this “lyrical and graphic” international bestselling classic novel of joyful eroticism (NPR). It begins with nineteen-year-old Emmanuelle’s flight from London to join her husband in Bangkok. On the airplane, she is seduced by the passenger seated next to her. By the time they land, she has indulged her irrepressible and insatiable sexual appetite, embarking on an odyssey of hedonistic sensual discovery that takes her from the arms of her husband to intimate encounters with the wives of his business associates, to further explorations wherein the philosophical and aesthetic facets of eroticism are expounded—and enacted—to the fullest degree. Much like Anne Desclos’ The Story of O and Anaïs Nin’s Delta of Venus, Emmanuelle is as pertinent today as it was when it was first published in 1967, a thrilling reminder of “how this revolutionary epic had an impact on the sexual liberation of women” (Le Parisien Magazine). “Emmanuelle is not just sex; it is an eroticism that is vintage, oneiric, utopian, and tender, an optimistic and radiant eroticism.” —Le Point “Emmanuelle’s eroticism is not pathological, unlike the eroticism of revolt. It is a crucial part of the satisfaction of the individual, which feels threatened by nothing, which unfolds in harmony with the world: an eroticism of perfect accord.” —Le Magazine Littéraire “Lyrical and graphic . . . But it’s not all salacious play-by-play. The sex scenes are interspersed with abstract musings about the nature of sex. . . . In short, it arouses.” —Teddy Wayne, NPR