# What authors handle sex well? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 21, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-authors-handle-sex-well/514618 "2009-10-21T16:06:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-authors-handle-sex-well/514618/41 "2009-10-22T16:11:52Z")
Dude, you’re turning into That Guy. Let it go, for God’s sake. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-authors-handle-sex-well/514618/42 "2009-10-22T16:18:48Z")
> [@schnuckiputzi](#): > > But with Gabaldon (sp?) even the man on man rape scenes, while stomach-turning, had a twisted kind of tenderness to them. It was an emotional and mental rape much more than physical. That’s not a plus! 😃 but while I didn’t like the scene or the book, having that scene doesn’t disqualify Gabaldon for writing sex well. I don’t remember the non-rape sex in the book, though. That one scene and a general dislike are all that sticks with me. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-authors-handle-sex-well/514618/43 "2009-10-22T16:32:19Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Dude, you’re turning into That Guy. Let it go, for God’s sake. In a thread that has nothing to do with sex in novels, your complaint would be completely warranted - but this thread has everything to do with sex in novels, so I think I should be allowed to say my piece without being stigmatized. You probably haven’t even read the book; if you did, you’d know what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-authors-handle-sex-well/514618/44 "2009-10-22T16:33:24Z")
> [@Brynda](#): > > Diana Gabaldon? All the man on man rape scenes sort of cancelled out the sexy for me. That was a very brutal scene, but it only happened once, and it was more about Randall trying to get into Jamie’s head and stay there than anything else. In a very confusing scene, which I still don’t completely understand, Claire basically got Jamie (mentally speaking) back to the dungeon so she could bring him back out. IIRC, it was quite dangerous, because Jamie was out of his head and could have killed her. But, he was able to build a lean-to for the poor shivering creature that was his soul afterward. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-authors-handle-sex-well/514618/45 "2009-10-22T16:39:39Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > In a thread that has nothing to do with sex in novels, your complaint would be completely warranted - but this thread has everything to do with sex in novels, so I think I should be allowed to say my piece without being stigmatized. You probably haven’t even read the book; if you did, you’d know what I mean. You’re really making sure that nobody here will _ever_ pick up that book. Concerning your own sexual tastes: TMI! ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-authors-handle-sex-well/514618/46 "2009-10-22T16:45:18Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I’ll have to check out Roth some time. He’s one of those authors I’ve been saying that about for years. He’s a wonderful writer, but he’ll be getting no wild monkey sex from me! ;o) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-authors-handle-sex-well/514618/47 "2009-10-22T16:57:41Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > 100 dollars and I swear to God I’ll never say another _word_ about Hogg. I have a paypal account. If it really bothers people so much, I’m willing to stop mentioning it if they’re willing to pay me. > > I happen to think it’s a work of transgressive genius and, hell, if there’s any thread that would actually merit bringing it up, it’s this one - but hey, 100 dollars buys me a lot of beer. Transgressive genius or not, my dear, it’s time to read another book. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-authors-handle-sex-well/514618/48 "2009-10-22T17:02:47Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > You’re really making sure that nobody here will _ever_ pick up that book. > > Concerning your own sexual tastes: TMI! I never said a word about my own sexual tastes (but they’re nothing like _Hogg,_ which is why I read the book with fascination and not arousal.) In some ways, _Crash_ is better, though. Plot-wise, it’s definitely better. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-authors-handle-sex-well/514618/49 "2009-10-22T17:10:55Z")
Of all contemporary fantasy writers, I’d say Guy Gavriel Kay does sex best. All his books have plenty of it, and while it’s sometimes tender and sometimes not so much, it always comes across as pretty honest. He’s almost unique among writers in his genre in depicting sex as something done between adults who are fond of each other and enjoy each other’s company, but are in no way “in love.” ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-authors-handle-sex-well/514618/50 "2009-10-22T18:38:34Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > That was a very brutal scene, but it only happened once, and it was more about Randall trying to get into Jamie’s head and stay there than anything else. In a very confusing scene, which I still don’t completely understand, Claire basically got Jamie (mentally speaking) back to the dungeon so she could bring him back out. IIRC, it was quite dangerous, because Jamie was out of his head and could have killed her. I love Gabaldon’s books, but I think the sex scenes are often unrealistic. Such as the post-fever sex, post-rape sex, and the get-my-husband-out-of-jail sex. The soap opera elements of the books are a sharp contrast to the realism of the historical and medical details. That rape scene in the first book is very disturbing and it almost put me off the series. Not on its own, but I was afraid Gabaldon would get more and more sensationalist and unrealistic in subsequent books. She didn’t. Nothing else quite as disturbing/intense happens in the rest of the series. And that early rape is treated with great seriousness, haunting the victim and his loved ones for the rest of their lives. **jsgoddess** , you may have been turned off by the wife-beating incident in the first book, which seems to bother people more than the rape. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-authors-handle-sex-well/514618/51 "2009-10-22T18:49:05Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > **jsgoddess** , you may have been turned off by the wife-beating incident in the first book, which seems to bother people more than the rape. I don’t remember that but there could have been a host of things or just the rape. I remember thinking it felt sensationalized, but I could have just been surprised/shocked she went there. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-authors-handle-sex-well/514618/52 "2009-10-23T21:41:44Z")
Couple of Authors that include, although don’t primarily focus on sex in their stories: **Wilbur Smith** - Mixes a fair amount of sexual atmosphere and situations into his tales,but doesn’t dwell on the details to a great extent. **John Irving** - It’s there, but I’ve never cared much for his approach to sex If you were reading either of the above strictily for the sexual references, you’d be disappointed as compared to some of the other works described already ---
**Author:** ![Magicicada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c67d28/32.png) [@Magicicada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magicicada)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-authors-handle-sex-well/514618/53 "2009-10-25T02:26:57Z")
I was going to ask if it was with extinct species of animals…but I’m not sure if that’d make it better\* or worse. :eek: Read: “Less-awful.”[/SIZE][/QUOTE Yeah. I believe that would be the mammoth scene. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-authors-handle-sex-well/514618.md?page=2)