Introduction
1. The Strange and the Familiar in the Kamasutra
2. The Kautilyan Kamasutra
3. The Mythology of the Kamasutra
4. Women in the Kamasutra
5. The Third Nature: Gender Inversions
6. The Mare's Trap: The Nature and Culture of Sex
7. The Rise and Fall of Kama and the Kamasutra
Notes
Wendy Doniger is the Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago and the author of over 30 books, including On Hinduism and The Hindus: An Alternative History.
"Doniger's prose cuts to the chase, and her book delights and
informs the lay reader. Erudite, entertaining, and to the point,
this work demonstrates her talent for clear thinking and clear
writing." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review
"In this marvelous, well-written and engaging book, Wendy Doniger
shows us how Vatyayana's famous treatise about pleasure draws on
another famous treatise about politics, Kautilya's Arthashastra:
the two perennial concerns of human beings, sex and politics, come
together within the boundary of social duty and obligation. There
has never been a book quite like this. It describes the Kamasutra's
historical context, places it in relation to the
early history of Sanskrit literature concerned with the purposes of
life, and discusses its contemporary relevance. Written with style
and verve this book is a must-read for everyone interested in the
history of Indian
civilization or the broader history of human desire." --Gavin
Flood, Professor of Hindu Studies and Comparative Religion, Oxford
University
"With seasoned wisdom and a heart irrepressibly young, Wendy
Doniger offers us an elegant exposition of the Kamasutra. She shows
it to be wide-ranging, astute about love's politics, and deeply
committed not just to good sex but to all aspects of the good life.
Redeeming the Kamasutra beckons modern readers to a fresh encounter
with an ancient, strikingly contemporary text." --John Stratton
Hawley, author of A Storm of Songs: India and
the Idea of the Bhakti Movement
"Not for nothing is Wendy Doniger widely esteemed today as a
paragon among Indologists, by virtue of her wit, her learning and
the accessibility of her writings. In this original work she offers
striking new insights into what the Kamasutra can teach us about
ancient Indian society, and how it relates to Sanskrit texts on
other branches of Indian knowledge. She is a Horace of our age,
finding nothing human to which she feels no kinship." --Richard
Gombrich, author of What the Buddha Thought
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