cover image Mars and Venus in the Bedroom: A Guide to Lasting Romance and Passion

Mars and Venus in the Bedroom: A Guide to Lasting Romance and Passion

John Gray. HarperCollins Publishers, $24 (224pp) ISBN 978-0-06-017212-1

Gray follows up his bestseller Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus with this sex manual for the 1990s. Using the same ``advanced'' techniques presented in his earlier book, now transferred to the bedroom, he advises partners how to achieve sexual satisfaction without frustrating each other, how to rekindle and maintain sexual passion without resorting to affairs, how to talk about sexual needs without turning each other off and much more. For those in a rush to the bedroom, virtually every paragraph is recapitulated in boldface one-liners. Although some of the material is old news (women require more foreplay and affection than men), much is cutting-edge. For example, women don't always desire orgasm, and therefore ``quickies'' can be enjoyable for both parties. But sorely lacking here is a discussion of safe sex in the age of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. And despite the title, Gray here compares men to the sun and women to the moon rather than to Earth's planetary neighbors. $250,000 ad/promo; 500,000 first printing. (Apr.)