Like a candy store for the curious and dirty-minded, Best Sex Writing 2006 offers glimpses of erotic escapades, the burgeoning sex industry, and the often unpredictable intersections of love, lust, and exploitation. The authors brought together here prove to be witty and authentic witnesses to the sexual state of the union.

Shalom Auslander's "Where's The Sin? An Anti-Sermon" explains why he longs for the old days of sexual repression. In "The Pole Test," Natalie Y. Moore and Natalie Hopkinson explore black strippers' relationships with their fathers. Stephen Elliott's heartbreaking "Just Always Be Good" describes the healing paradise of being bound, slapped, and sent into rapture by a new lover. In "The Nutty Confessor," Michelle Orange recalls the dreamy boy she picked to take her virginity ("He must have had dorkball girls like me following him around every minute of the day, fresh, unfocused need coming off us like paint fumes.")

Find words to agree with, argue with, or dog-ear for nightly re-reading in this hornucopia of sexual politics and inspired journalism. Brainy, raunchy, riveting, Best Sex Writing 2006 is sure to get your panties in a twist—or in a little heap on the floor.

"A fun, nimble book that never loses its sense of humor about itself." —Salon.com

FELICE NEWMAN and FRÉDÉRIQUE DELACOSTE are the founding publishers of Cleis Press. Frédérique Delacoste is the coeditor of Sex Work: Writings by Women in the Sex Industry. She lives in London and San Francisco. Felice Newman is the author of The Whole Lesbian Sex Book: A Passionate Guide for All of Us. She is a certified somatic coach, and writes on sexuality in print and online. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Read and interview with Felice Newman and Frédérique Delacoste