No, but closer.
When I was in high school, I discovered the writings of Anais Nin, specifically this:
Unlike other writings on sex, particularly those of Ms. Nin's lover, Henry Miller (who, for the longest time, I confused with Henry James, God knows why), Nin offered a vision of sexuality that was potent, filled with the marvelous combination of love and lust that is the best human beings can do. Not content to titillate, she took certain erotic conventions - "Artists and Models", etc. - and gave them a twist, making them her own. Not the deep blue of mid-20th century pornography, or the faux-scandalous writings of D. H. Lawrence or the sex-pulps:
Anais Nin's writings introduced me to the possibility not only of literary sex, but the romantic possibilities inherent in carnal desire. While much has changed over the decades, I still hold that when a man and a woman are in love, their physical desire can manifest itself in a kind of freedom that makes of sex something more than simple reproduction on the one hand, or animal grunting on the other. I am grateful I was schooled in the possibilities inherent in human sexual love by Ms. Nin's writings.
And thanks to my sister, Susan, for holding her copy while she was in Africa in the Peace Corps.
Lisa gets edited. Randall feels like yodeling.
