New York Times Book
Review
Lustful Royalty, Joking Coyotes and Other Beach
Buddies
By Janet Maslin
June 18, 2004
This summer you can amuse yourself by having
sex with kings. Honestly, you can. You can have "Sex With Kings:
500 Years of Adultery, Power, Rivalry and Revenge" by Eleanor
Herman, an author interested in royal shenanigans.
The reader will learn not only that Madame de Pompadour (a close personal
friend of Louis XV) tried to stimulate her libido with a diet of celery,
truffles and vanilla but also that Joseph II of Bavaria (1741-1790)
once complained about his queen: "If I could put the tip of my
finger on the tiniest part of her body which was not covered by pimples,
I would try to have a child."
Perhaps "Sex With Kings" is too steeped
in bona fide history to qualify as frisky summer reading. But there's
something about the author's photograph, in which she wears royal
robes and a tiara, that has that certain seasonal magic. Remember:
the Seven Dwarfs of the beach-book world are Sexy, Fizzy, Easy, Sleazy,
Funny, Dishy and Dopey. Ms. Herman's playing dress-up (and she looks
better than some of history's most renowned royalty-teasers) brings
at least Sexy, Dishy and Funny into play. |
