Family Practice Vol. 17, No. 2, 214-215
© Oxford University Press 2000
Book reviews |
The sexual male: problems and solutions.
Retired GP involved for many years in psychosexual medicine
Richard Milsten, Julian Slowinski. (331 pages, £18.95.) WW Norton & Company Ltd, 1999. ISBN 0-393-04740-7.
The book is written as if it was addressed to an intelligent layman rather than to a doctor. It is packed with facts and peppered with aphorisms (at least 10% of which are by ‘author unknown’). It is a kind of vade mecum of male sexology, set out in eight sections and a brief conclusion. As a ready reference book it could be a great treasure chest, either for a layman who is afraid to ask for help or for doctors who completed their training before sexology became an integral part of undergraduate and postgraduate education.
It is very up to date, with a section on Viagra, followed immediately by a section wisely called "Restoring erections may not solve relationship problems". It does a good job of demythologizing those folk tales that might promote impotence, while referring sensibly to the broad spectrum of factors which may interfere with male potency. Not the least of these is the role of women in the context of a satisfactory sex life, though the sections on female sexual dysfunctions do not seem quite to fall under the roof of the title. However, one can readily appreciate that they may be apposite in the pillow talk of a couple in trouble.
The pattern of dealing with a myriad of factors in compartments has the disadvantage that cross-referencing is difficult. Has Viagra a place in the life of a healthy man of 70 plus, for instance? Nevertheless, it is a far-ranging compendium (with ‘key-points' paragraphs for every section) of the current facts bearing on male sexual problems and the treatments available. It even ventures into suggesting that modern mainstream religious attitudes are less negative to sex than formerly. Nowhere in the text was there anything that aroused my strong negative feelings, and that is no mean feat.
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