Listmania!
Fiction with sex or sexuality as a major theme.
Wake of the RavenWake of the Raven by Graham Worthington
Buy used from: £19.03
My own work, Pub. 2007. An intense look at the relationship between a man and a preteen girl in his care. When their bonding becomes sexual, fear drives him towards murder.
The Lovely BonesThe Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Buy used from: £1.02
"Pub. 2002, the aftermath of a vicious type of sexuality; the brutal rape and murder of a 14-year old girl."
Running with Scissors: A MemoirRunning with Scissors: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs
Buy used from: £0.34
Pub. 2002. An account of the author's boyhood in a sexually liberated family of the seventies. Criticised as too fantastical to believe; having seen a few true goings on, I think it’s accurate.
The Kite RunnerThe Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Buy used from: £0.17
Pub. 2004, In Afghanistan, the guilt of a homosexual rape reveals ancient themes: the power of friendship, and the clash between good and evil that transcends passing governments such as the Taliban.
Brokeback MountainBrokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx
Buy used from: £0.01
Pub. 1998, This short story formed the nucleus of the film version in 2005."
Flowers in the Attic (Dollanger Saga)Flowers in the Attic (Dollanger Saga) by V. C. Andrews
Buy new: £5.99 / Used from: £4.01
Pub. 1979, the first of a wildly popular series about a family of incestuous children. Perhaps a bit tame by today’s standards, or perhaps still a shocker?
Delta of VenusDelta of Venus by Anais Nin
Buy used from: £3.37
Pub. 1978. Anais Nin, described as the greatest female author on sexuality, wrote this collection of short stories as a commission for a private collector."
Left Hand of DarknessLeft Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
Buy used from: £21.62
Pub. ‘69, a Sci-fi classic years ahead of its time.Alien’s changing sexuality in response to potential partners. As usual with Le Guin, people are more important than technology.
Travels with My Aunt: Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition (Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions)Travels with My Aunt: Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition (Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions) by Graham Greene
Buy used from: £7.90
Pub. 1969. Greene, known for his bitter and melancholy novels, here examined the liberalism and joy of the sixties. A hilarious comedy of an elderly man’s discovery of his sexually disreputable aunt.
Portnoy's ComplaintPortnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth
Buy used from: £4.41
Pub. 1969. Philip Roth's possibly autobiographical story of a man whose sexual impulses war with his purer feelings
Myra Breckinridge; Myron (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)Myra Breckinridge; Myron (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) by Gore Vidal
Buy used from: £23.59
Pub. 1968, Gore Vidal's classic swipe at Western steryotypes of sexuality, revolves around the adventures of a trans-sexual male
AlfieAlfie by Bill Naughton
Buy new: £7.19 / Used from: £0.01
Pub. ‘63, filmed ‘66 with Michael Caine. Comments on the easy sexuality of the Swinging Sixties. Refilmed 2004, Jude Law, but creating less stir. Different times, different shock values.
Strange RelationsStrange Relations by Philip Jose Farmer
Buy new: £5.20 / Used from: £1.75
Pub. 1960. Farmer has been known for many decades for his exploration of sexuality through his medium - sci-fi. In these five short stories he produces a family both strange and memorable.
A Kind of LovingA Kind of Loving by Mr Stan Barstow
Buy used from: £8.50
Pub. 1960, filmed 1962, represents the "kitchen sink drama" genre influencing society in the 50s and 60s. Interesting to help understand attitudes then, it deals with a casual sex ending in pregnancy
Cider with Rosie (Nonpareil Book)Cider with Rosie (Nonpareil Book) by Laurie Lee
Buy used from: £5.84
Pub. 1959, a masterpiece on England at the end of WWI, a time of endless summers where cars and telephones were a rarity. Also reveals the strange mixture of sexual prudery and laxity of those times
Giovanni's Room (Penguin Modern Classics)Giovanni's Room (Penguin Modern Classics) by James Baldwin
Buy new: £5.30 / Used from: £1.90
Due to its homoerotic content, this second novel by black American author James Baldwin aroused much controversy when published in 1956. Today it seems very mild, but was then considered very candid
Lolita (Penguin Classics)Lolita (Penguin Classics) by Vladimir Nabokov
Buy new: £5.43 / Used from: £1.67
Pub. 1955, the classic story of a man's lust for an underage girl. A study in selfishness and delusion, its complex layers of subtlety, have been analysed than any other work of erotic literature
The Ginger ManThe Ginger Man by James Patrick Donleavy
Buy used from: £7.53
Pub. 1955, The story of sexual adventures in Dublin, hailed as one of the greats of last century. Readers seem equally divided as to whether it is genius or trash. I find it leaning more to trash
Casino RoyaleCasino Royale by Ian Fleming
Buy used from: £1.86
Pub.’53, introduced James Bond, literature's supreme example of the tough, cynical, womanising, action-man hero.
The Catcher in the RyeThe Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
Buy used from: £1.73
Pub. 1951, when its story of teenage anger and sexuality shocked the USA. It has held cult status ever since. In 1981 it was the most challenged book, yet the second most taught in high schools
1984 Nineteen Eighty-Four1984 Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Buy used from: £7.89
Pub. 1949. A future world of fear and oppression. As usual in oppressive societies, sex is taboo, and Winston rebels by the most basic of human rights: he loves a girl, Julia
Tropic of CancerTropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
Buy used from: £7.05
Pub. 1934, the subject of an obscenity trial in 1961, an extreme example of an author's reaction to censorship. Praised by serious writers - including George Orwell - and damned as trash by others.
Narcissus and GoldmundNarcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse
Buy used from: £7.25
Pub. 1930, Hesse's novel explores two polar opposites of the human character: Narzis, a disciplined scholar, and Goldmund, his pupil, an adventuring sensualist fascinated by the eternal feminine.
Lady Chatterley's Lover (Penguin Classics Deluxe)Lady Chatterley's Lover (Penguin Classics Deluxe) by D. H. Lawrence
Buy new: £11.69 / Used from: £4.29
Pub. 1928, Lawrence's most notorious novel on sexuality. Pub. in England in 1960, when it was prosecuted under the obscenity act. This failed prosecution did much to confirm the sixties as "Swinging."
My Life and Loves (Literary Classics)My Life and Loves (Literary Classics) by Frank Harris
Buy new: £10.15 / Used from: £5.15
Pub. 1922, banned as obscene in 1923. Follows the general pattern of many works read for sexual content: once the sexual part begins to bore, there's not much more in it to hold the reader's interest.