Sex Collectors, Geoff Nicholson.  Nicholson's relationship with a female pornographer and a friend's preoccupation with Linda Lovelace ephemera led him to pen this recent, oft-reviewed work of popular nonfiction.  The result is half catalogue, half travelogue, with a fair bit devoted to annotated bibliographies and the sociology of collection, offering a varied cross section of the compulsive erotica hoarder.  Nicholson describes collections of paintings, playing cards, burlesque photographs, and even the slightly macabre but beautiful Chinese lotus shoe, all the while questioning things like the notion of sexual "museums" and the art value of some possessions.  It's a literate, if not terribly highbrow read, though whether it deserves the attention its gotten is another question entirely.


Read August 2006