The Kama Sutra Illuminated: Erotic Art of India

There has been a spate of recent translations of this ancient Indian manual for creating balance in one's love life (and maximizing pleasure in the process). Pinkney, a doctoral candidate in Religions and Languages of North India at Columbia University, returns to what she finds to be key passages in Sir Richard Francis Burton's 19th century translation-""Do what is done-/ To a slap, slap back./ And in the same way/ Return kisses with kisses""-illustrating them with reproductions from the rich tradition of Indian sensual art. With detailed explanations and contextualizations, Pickney tries to get close to the original intentions of Hindu sage Vatsyayana in composing his fourth century text. She is aided by 200 full-color images of sculptures, paintings and objects depicting sexual acrobatics gathered by Lance Dane (a founder of Delhi's Sanskriti Museum of Every Day Art), which concretize the sage's advice on everything from ""how to inspire confidence in her"" to the use of dildos. Beyond the various positions for intercourse, Vatsyayana produced a masterful series of lists, some of which might pique the ire of feminists. Within a list about ""types of women known to turn from propriety,"" he includes ""high-rollers,"" ""opinionated women,"" and ""actors' wives."" Although society has (perhaps) changed, the intricate ways lovers can bite or scratch each other have not, and this book reminds that the look of love is as old as it is beautiful.