Massage and the Writer: Essays on Asian Massage

There is no more schizophrenic pastime than the application of oil to flesh. Whether as bodily relief and relaxation, a means of seduction, or a form of prostitution, massage has long both fascinated and repelled. But what if these contradictory aspects of the practice-the therapeutic and the erotic-were seen as inseparable and integral to it?Spiced up by travels in the East in search of the ideal massage, bristling with trenchant, provocative essays, Massage and the Writer will appeal to littérateurs and aficionados of radical sexuality, while infuriating the "polite" massage business of New Age spas, aroma oils, and how-to coffee table books-all those with a stake in the strict separation of massage and sex."Massage and the Writer's salacious narrative, suffuse with dangerously honest erotic musings, is certain to garner Cook a cult following among libertine expats."-City Weekend"[A] fascinating portrait of a man who has ventured into the titillating establishments the world has to offer."-Kirkus Reviews