{"product_id":"singular-pleasures-paperback-1","title":"Singular Pleasures - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eHarry Mathews\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eFrancesco Clemente\u003c\/b\u003e (Illustrator)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA \"cool, humorous, and affectionate\" book of vignettes about a practice that is universal and universally taboo: masturbation.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn sixty-one vignettes, Harry Mathews records the imaginative varieties of this solitary activity in prose that is playful, intimate, and humane. The soloists range in age from nine to eighty; the locales from Australia to Zaire; the means from the commonplace to the bizarre. There is the young man in Gaza with his hair dryers, the woman in Manila with her cello bow, the long-eared bat, the charioteer, the candelabra...\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"There is nothing pornographic, in the strict sense, about Mathews' text, since it does not seek to arouse the reader,\" wrote John Ash for \u003cem\u003eArtforum\u003c\/em\u003e. \"His intention is to leave us deeply impressed by the ingenuity, tenacity, and inventiveness with which humans in all places and at all ages have pursued their own pleasure. He succeeds completely.\" The text is illustrated throughout with watercolors by Francesco Clemente that offer an intriguing counterpoint to Mathews's fictions.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHarry Mathews\u003c\/strong\u003e was born in New York City in 1930 and spent his adult life in the United States and in France, where he co-founded the influential journal \u003cem\u003eLocus Solus\u003c\/em\u003e with John Ashbery, Kenneth Koch, and James Schuyler in 1961. He was the first American member of the literary consortium Oulipo, alongside Raymond Queneau, Italo Calvino, and Georges Perec. His many writings, spanning novels, short fiction, poems, essays, and translations from the French, include \u003cem\u003eThe Conversions\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eTlooth\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Sinking of the Odradek Stadium\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eCigarettes\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Journalist\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eMy Life in CIA\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eThe Solitary Twin\u003c\/em\u003e. Mathews was honored by the French government as an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters and earned awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the National Endowment for the Arts. He died in Key West, Florida, in 2017.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 150\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.5 x 7.9 x 5.2 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e August 04, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46714945831109,"sku":"9781628976472","price":28.29,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0757\/6718\/5605\/files\/ju-ibOrs4F9781628976472_a0ee4263-658b-4a9b-9535-4a26799490c4.webp?v=1786525981","url":"https:\/\/selloorium.com\/products\/singular-pleasures-paperback-1","provider":"Selloorium","version":"1.0","type":"link"}