The Limits of Pleasure
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Book Overview
The Limits of Pleasure follows Dave Miller, a forty-year-old bearish gay man, living in Boston in an escalating skirmish to reconcile his Jewish and gay identities. A year after the death of his Holocaust-surviving grandmother, Dave leaves Boston for Amsterdam, the home of Anne Frank, whom his Grandma revered. Dave, feeling undeserving to confront the suffering that Grandma endured in the concentration camps, cannot bring himself to visit Anne Frank's house. Angry at himself and the world, Dave repeatedly seeks out erotic encounters that mix sacred ritual with profane hedonism. Then he meets Alexander, a sexually reserved Dutchman of Indonesian heritage, who has identity conflicts of his own. The relationship shakes both men's lives to their core.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:1099158095
ISBN13:9781099158094
Release Date:May 2019
Publisher:Independently Published
Length:210 Pages
Weight:0.55 lbs.
Dimensions:0.4" x 5.5" x 8.5"
Customer Reviews
3 ratings
No Limits for the Pleasure
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 23 years ago
Jaffe's novel is a courageous example of how fiction can challenge our ideas and emotions- creating new spaces where we have never been before. By exploring the intersections where ethnicity and sexual desire meet,by provoking us to reconsider the meaning of identity,Jaffe expands our horizons in dramatic ways. After reading this novel I realized "pleasure" is the final frontier of freedom: how much pleasure is our body allowed to seek, to feel, to enjoy? For centuries we have been living within the ethics of pain: suffering is validation. But Jaffe's book seems to suggest another standard: pleasure is redemption too;sex has a moral value within this novel. It reminded me of Nietzche's opinion: "pain wants to end, but pleasure wants repetition and eternity". And you want to read this book as soon as you can- if you dare!
Fun and fascinating
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 23 years ago
The Limits of Pleasure explores a vast reservoir of possibilities that exists between the constrictions of psychic and emotional pain and the expansiveness of physical sensation and desire. With great wit, insight, and imagination, Mr. Jaffe reveals in his characters a stunning inner landscape that pits smoldering, down-the-throat sensuality against heartfelt nostalgia for cultural awareness and familial belonging. Keep this book by the nightstand for erotic and psychical stimulation when the other side of the bed is absent a warm body to do the needful otherwise.Ron Suresha, editor, Bearotica; and author, Bears on Bears
Depth Mixed with Fun
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 23 years ago
Rare to find a novel that conveys deep meaning through humor. The Limits of Pleasure does that. It made me smile and think at the same time. And it was often arousing too, not such a bad thing, as this novel tries to point out. Feels very true to life. Deals with the sort of issues we wish were not there. Not always PC, but we aren't always politically correct in our heads and hearts and lower, are we?
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