Bergner

Mary Beth -

              If you've read any of Bergner's, The Other Side of Desire, you know that his writing is anything but conventional. In fact, he elaborates upon a number of paraphilias, including sadomasochism, pedophilia, desire for certain body parts, and desire for a lack of body parts (amputees). I found his analysis and storytelling pertaining to each paraphilia to be fascinating.
                One of the most important themes Bergner stresses within his book is that there are a vast array of different paraphilias. Who would think that the sight of a woman's foot could be so arousing to a man that it would cause him to ejaculate? What a strange idea this seems to be. Yet, within our culture there are an uncountable number of strange cases as such. Different individuals can be turned on by a variety of different, and normally, unsexual ideas. There are simply too many variations of sexual arousal sources to name.
              Another point Bergner makes is that paraphilia can affect virtually anyone. He describes the individuals featured in his book in great detail. The people he describes are often married, have children, hold respectable jobs, etc. Yet, behind closed doors they struggle sexually with their paraphilias. Roy, the pedophile featured in Bergner's book, is a married, 40yr old wedding singer who likes to fly kites. Laura, the amputee, is a formerly married country girl who works as a secretary. These detailed and seemingly normal characteristics make the individuals mentioned in Bergner's account seem more human to readers. It shows them that paraphiliacs are everyday individuals as opposed to "freaks."
             Bergner's writing is very provakative. At times, I found myself in disbelief at some of his word choices. It almost made me feel dirty to read it, yet, at the same time, I found it to be very entertaining. The fact that I felt risque just reading the book, made me wonder how the individuals discussed in the book must feel on a day to day basis, constantly feeling ashamed of and hiding their paraphilias. As a whole, I really enjoyed The Other Side of Desire, and would recommend it to anyone with bias toward or interest in irregular sexual behaviors.