INTERVIEW: Pagan Kennedy, author of The Dangerous
Joy of Dr. Sex and Other True Stories (September 2008). The book documents a series
of geniuses determined to remake the world, for better or worse; it includes the
first-ever biography of Alex Comfort, the snail expert who wrote The Joy of Sex.
This is Kennedy's tenth book. She has been a contributor to The New York Times
Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, The Village Voice, and The Boston Globe
Magazine. She is currently a columnist for the Boston Globe Ideas section.
Her previous media interviews include Fresh Air, To The Best of Our Knowledge, Lenny
Lopate, Kojo Nmande, and Here and Now.
SUBJECTS: General Interest. Features. Science &
Technology. Psychology. Women's. Sex. Books.
AVAILABILITY: Nationwide by telephone. Travel by
arrangement. Boston.
Kennedy excels at
making the complex compelling ...
a stylish and wholly original triumph.
STARRED REVIEW. Nonfiction Reviews: -- Publishers Weekly, 5/19/2008. The
Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex and Other True Stories. Pagan Kennedy. Santa Fe
Writer's Project (IPG, dist.), $14 paper (250p) ISBN 978-0-9776799-3-5. September 2008.
New Book Tells True Stories of Geniuses
and Visionaries: Stranger Than Fiction
and Funnier, Too
 In the 1960s, Dr. Alex Comfort hid out in a secret
laboratory with his mistress, testing sexual positions and documenting the results in
hand-drawn diagrams. Ten years later, the biologist hatched a plan to destroy monogamy
forever - by turning his notes into a manual called The Joy of Sex. This is just
one of the fable-like tales in a new book by award-winning author Pagan Kennedy. In The
Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex and Other True Stories, to be released in September 2008,
Kennedy vividly portrays a series of real-life geniuses who set out to change the world.
Kennedy is a novelist, journalist, and, back in the
'90s, was dubbed the 'queen of 'zines.' The Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex and Other True
Stories is Kennedy's tenth book.
Profiles in The Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex
and Other True Stories include:
Genius on Two Dollars a Day - Amy
Smith, an M.I.T. inventor of incredibly useful tools for the disenfranchised, some
deceptively simple and humble in appearance. After Kennedy profiled her, Smith received a
MacArthur "genius" award
The Strongest Woman in the World –
Cheryl Haworth, a teenager who had just become the world's top ranked female weightlifter
and who could throw 300 pounds over her head
Battery-Powered Brain - An artist
rigs himself up to a "brain machine" made from parts he bought at Radio Shack.
All of them are as memorable, passionate and poignant
as the best characters in literature. In these stories - most of which first appeared in
The New York Times Magazine and The Boston Globe Magazine - Kennedy proves that truth is
funnier than fiction.
A columnist for the Boston Globe and contributor to the
New York Times, Pagan Kennedy has explored the outer limits of nonfiction
in dozens of magazines and newspapers. She has also published nine previous books. Her
biography, Black Livingstone, was a New York Times Notable. Her novel, Spinsters,
was a finalist for the prestigious Orange Prize; it also won a Barnes & Noble Discover
Award.
On the Internet:
http://www.pagankennedy.net
http://www.dangerousjoy.com
Suggested Interview Questions / Pagan Kennedy Can
Discuss:
In a few months, a new edition of The Joy of Sex
will appear in stores. How did the original edition of the book change sex in America? How
did its author transform himself from a nerdy virgin into an orgy king?
You are a novelist and a journalist. Is your new book
fiction or nonfiction? Why do you call it true stories?
What kind of people do you profile in your book? What
drew you to them?
Two of the people you wrote about went on to receive
MacArthur "genius" awards after you wrote about them. Discuss.
What did you learn about innovation and invention
from the stories of the people you profiled?
MEDIA CONTACT: For further information
or to schedule interviews, please contact Susannah Greenberg, Public Relations, (212)
208-4629, publicity@bookbuzz.com
We would appreciate hearing from you if you plan a mention or review on
your show or in your publication. Thank you. |