The Book of the Penis

"Should be required reading for anyone who has a penis, wants a penis, or loves someone who has or wants a penis . . . titillating and informative."—Dan Savage, New York Times-bestselling author

The almighty penis (a.k.a. dick, schlong, pecker, rod, tool, Johnson, etc.) has long been a major object of adoration, revulsion, ridicule, amazement, joy, pride, and even frustration. But does anyone fully understand the penis? Novelist, playwright, and journalist Maggie Paley immersed herself in the obsessive world of this most forthright of organs, looking for answers high and low. She pored over scholarly volumes, anthropology texts, and sex-shop glossies; interviewed sex workers, transsexuals, and phallus connoisseurs of all stripes; attended male strip shows and a Hindu lingam ceremony; visited web sites where men share masturbation techniques; and even searched out the current location of Napoleon's penis. And, yes, she objectively addresses the big question: "Does size matter?" Along the way, we encounter deliciously entertaining and highly informative chapters on penis worship, fellatio, and men who are famous for their dicks, as well as the penis in art, fashion, literature, films, and much more.

In this "clever and hilarious" book—delightfully illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier—"Paley humanizes the penis by exposing the pervasive social and cultural baggage associated with it . . . Damn good" (Bust).

"[Paley] hits the subject on the head."—Playboy

"Spirited, filled with fact and some fancy, emphasizing the penis's power to drive male behavior but designed to make both women and men more comfortable with the dreaded word—and perhaps even the actuality—penis."—Kirkus Reviews

Maggie Paley is the author of a novel, Bad Manners; a play about Edith Wharton, In One Door; a chapbook of sestinas, Elephant; and numerous magazine articles and book reviews. She has worked as an editor for The Paris Review and Life, as a contributing editor for Vogue and Elle, and as a contributing writer for Mirabella. She lives and works in New York City.