What Really Happens in Bed

The sex lives of the 250 people, aged 19 to 74, interviewed by the authors bear little relation to romantic Hollywood images of lovemaking. Both women and men conceal from their bed partners current dissatisfactions as well as intimate details of their individual erotic histories that might heighten responsiveness. Temporary impotence and anxiety about performance hamper many of the men. The women here tend to harshly blame their lovers, or themselves, for male dysfunctions, while often coddling the men's egos. Females are much more concerned about AIDS than males but frequently do nothing about it. Frustrated, horny singles and masturbating marrieds abound. Carter and Sokol, coauthors of Men Who Can't Love , suggest that most of us are ``sexual chameleons,'' shuttling between serial monogamy, extra-marital affairs, multiple partners and celibacy. They advance the intriguing notion that a person's current attitude toward sex is largely dependent on what phase she or he is going through at the time. 75,000 first printing; $100,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild alternate. (Apr.)