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[Jan Anders Andersson]

Got that already, Arlo. Quite romantic, sort of antology so I don’t rely too much to it.

There are one interesting dichotomy here however, besides the classic/romantic. Erotica are often based on taboos and the eliminating of taboos. Pictures of nude people are one example of taboo elimination. But there are another kind of erotica that is beyond the taboo/no taboo issue and that is the kind of erotica that is based on interplay between two, or more, individuals  that evolves into some kind of dramatic process. Authors who know about this shared attention are usually more interesting, but they don’t sell.

”April, 1940
A book collector offered Henry Miller a hundred dollars a month to write erotic stories. It seemed like a Dantesque punishment to condemn Henry to write erotica at a dollar a page. He rebelled because his mood of the moment was the opposite of Rabelaisian, because writing to order was a castrating occupation, because to be writing with a voyeur at the keyhole took all the spontaneity and pleasure out of his fanciful adventures.
 
December, 1940
Henry told me about the collector. They sometimes had lunch together. He bought a manuscript from Henry and then suggested that he write something for one of his old and wealthy clients. He could not tell much about his client except that he was interested in erotica.
 Henry started out gaily, jokingly. He invented wild stories which we laughed over. He entered into it as an experiment, and it seemed easy at first. But after a while it palled on him. He did not want to touch upon any of the material he planned to write about for his real work, so he was condemned to force his inventions and his mood.
 He never received a word of acknowledgment from the strange patron. It could be natural that he would not want to disclose his identity. But Henry began to tease the collector. Did this patron really exist? Were these pages for the collector himself, to heighten his own melancholy life? Were they one and the same person? Henry and I discussed this at length, puzzled and amused.
 At this point, the collector announced that his client was coming to New York and that Henry would meet him. But somehow this meeting never took place. The collector was lavish in his descriptions of how he sent the manuscripts by airmail, how much it cost, small details meant to add realism to the claims he made about his client’s existence.
 One day he wanted a copy of Black Spring with a dedication.
 Henry said: “But I thought you told me he had all my books already, signed editions?”
 “He lost his copy of Black Spring.”
 “Who should I dedicate it to?” said Henry innocently.
 “Just say ‘to a good friend,’ and sign your name.”
 A few weeks later Henry needed a copy of Black Spring and none could be found. He decided to borrow the collector’s copy. He went to the office. The secretary told him to wait. He began to look over the books in the bookcase. He saw a copy of Black Spring. He pulled it out. It was the one he had dedicated to the “Good Friend.”
 When the collector came in, Henry told him about this, laughing. In equally good humor, the collector explained: “Oh, yes, the old man got so impatient that I sent him my own copy while I was waiting to get this one signed by you, intending to exchange them later when he comes to New York again.”
 Henry said to me when we met, “I’m more baffled than ever.”
 When Henry asked what the patron’s reaction to his writing was, the collector said: “Oh, he likes everything. It is all wonderful. But he likes it better when it is a narrative, just storytelling, no analysis, no philosophy.”

Preface* (Delta of Venus by Anais Nin)

Jan-Anders

12 aug 2014 x kl. 15:33 skrev ARLO JAMES BENSINGER JR <ajb102 at psu.edu>:

> [Jan Anders]
> A philosophy that doesn’t include sex is not complete.
> 
> [Arlo]
> If you haven't already, you should look over Michel Foucault's three volume "History of Sexuality". I don't have them in front of me at the moment, so I'm copying this description from Wikipedia.
> 
> History of Sexuality, Volume I, Part III:
> "Part three, "Scientia Sexualis", explores the development of the scientific study of sex, the attempt to unearth the "truth" of sex, a phenomenon which Foucault argues is peculiar to the West. In contrast to the West's sexual science, Foucault introduces the "ars erotica" which he states has only existed in Ancient and Eastern societies."
> 
> I will admit I spend more time on the ideas he developed in Discipline and Punish, but History of Sexuality is interesting, and maybe something that would support/contrast/extend the ideas you're working on.
> 
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