Though Alfred Kinsey has been in the spotlight recently, collectors of sex-related objects generally receive little attention, perhaps because they tend to be secretive, and virtually anything can be erotic to someone. Nicholson, author of 13 novels including the Whitbread-shortlisted Bleeding London
, defines "sex collector" so broadly that he includes those who collect printed material, art, films, sex toys and even fingernail extensions and Lotus shoes, worn by Chinese women with bound feet. Many readers will be happy to accompany Nicholson on his visits to various collectors, famous and not. In Florida, he finds a grandmother with a $5 million erotica collection, whereas in Paris, he tries to convince Catherine Millet, author of The Sexual Life of Catherine M.
, that she is indeed a collector of erotic adventures. But serious erotologists may find this book dilettantish: sparsely illustrated with black and white photos and lacking an index and a list of collectors, dealers, museums and other resources. Nicholson is aware of these shortcomings: "I know it's partial, prejudiced, incomplete.... Exactly like any other collection. It's easy to imagine bigger, better, more inclusive, more gaudy collections. The only problem: they wouldn't be mine." 15 b&w photos. (June)
