Product Description

Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, better known as Fanny Hill, is one of the most notorious texts in English literature. As recently as 1963 an unexpurgated edition was the subject of a trial, yet in the eighteenth century John Cleland's open celebration of sexual enjoyment was a best selling novel. Fanny's story, as she falls into prostitution and then rises to respectability, takes the form of a confession that is vividly coloured by copious and explicit physiological details of her carnal adventures. The moral outrage that this has always provoked has only recently been countered by serious critical appraisal.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37635 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03-23
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Customer Reviews

Fanny Hill is considered an important piece of political parody and sexual philosophy on par with French libertine novels
Fanny Hill, shrouded in controversy for most of its more than 250-year life, and banned from publication in the United States until 1966, was once considered immoral and without literary merit, even earning its author a jail sentence for obscenity. The tale of a naïve young prostitute in bawdy eighteenth-century London who slowly rises to respectability, the novel-and its popularity-endured many bannings and critics. This uncensored version is set from the 1749 edition and includes commentary by Charles Rembar, the lawyer who defended the novel in the 1966 U.S. Supreme Court case, and newly commissioned notes. I'd also recommend, if you missed Tino Georgiou's novel--The Fates, getting a copy--absolutely fab..

Be warned...
'Fanny Hill' will excite the reader or not, according to their taste in pornography. It should be kept out of the hands of the impressionable because, for all that the heroine's mockery of the cult of defloration, the actual content is hardly likely to encourage us to 'tread the torch of Hymen out, & live content with Cupid'. If a woman's virginity isn't so important after all, why does Cleland offer us so many accounts of its loss & why is it certain that the hero is the heroine's first lover, but most unlikely that she is his?

The Father of British Porn
John Cleland is nowadays thought of as the 'Father of British Porn' for this novel. Written in the Fleet whilst being held due to bankruptcy, the book was originally published in two seperate volumes but thankfully here both volumes are included. Written in the style of a 'Whore Diary' which were very popular at the time Cleland produced a little masterpiece here and spent the rest of his life trying to disavow it (although he was never to produce anything as good ever again).

Poor innocent Fanny Hill comes to London only to be indoctrinated in a life of whoredom, including some sapphic fun. Instead of bewailing her new life she openly embraces it with a certain panache. As we follow her ups and downs we are always aware of a certain joie de vivre. Fanny definitely has a gust for living which is all too evident in this novel, and we also are never really aware of how inexperienced Fanny was until she came to London. Banned for obscenity but never out of print for most of its existence, Fanny Hill is a tour de force and should be on your list of books to read if you are into erotica. The number of names for bodyparts and the whole tongue in cheek nature of this story make it great fun to read. Some people think that Fanny Hill was inspired by the all to real Sally Salisbury, whose life to some extent mirrored Fanny's. If you like this you will probably also enjoy Fanny Hill [BBC] [DVD] [2007], where the gorgeous Rebecca Night plays Fanny to a tee.