Inquiries into marital patterns can serve as an effective lens to analyze social structures and material cultures not only on the question of sexuality, but also on the nature of a private citizen’s engagement with state and law. Through ethnographic research in courtrooms, community,and kinship spaces, the author outlines the transformations in material culture and political economy that have led to renewed negotiations on the institution of marriage in North India, especially in legal spaces. Tracing organically evolving notions of sexual consent and legal subjectivity, Courting Desire underlines how non-normative decisions regarding marriage become possible in a region otherwise known for high instances of honor killings and rigid kinship structures. Aspirations for consensual relationships have led to a tentative attempt to forge relationships that are non-normative but grudgingly approved after state intervention. The book traces this nascent and under-explored trend in the North Indian landscape.

The "orphan train" seemed like small-town spinster Adelaide Crum's last chance to know the simple joys of family life. So many lost children, every one of them dreaming only of a caring home—the home she longed to offer. And yet the narrow-minded town elders refused to entrust even the most desperate child to a woman alone…. Newspaperman Charles Graves believed his heart was closed forever, but he swore to stand by this lovely, lonely woman who was fighting for the right to take some motherless child into her heart. And her gentle soul and unwavering faith made him wonder if even he could overcome the bitter lessons of the past, and somehow find the courage to love….

This wonderfully small, thick book--like a box of photos--is divided up into the following categories: bonds (between partners and family members), icons (say, Jane Fonda as Barbarella), observations of glimpsed love or lust, come-ons to further naughtiness, tokens (mostly flowers juxtaposed with women), libidos (lusty acts), reveries (erotica), and obsessions (the sexual unusual). The international array of photographers includes Man Ray, Robert Mapplethorpe, Nan Goldin, Helmut Newton, Sally Mann, Immogen Cunningham, Brassai, and Julia Margaret Cameron. After a lengthy introduction on the history of photography and desire, there's nothing but photos there-on-in. You might just get aroused, or fascinated as to how others are aroused, or intrigued as to how far people go to arouse others. Ewing is director of the Musee de l'Elysee in Lausanne, Switzerland. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR

Volume contains: (Glauber v. Patof) (Glauber v. Patof) (Glauber v. Patof) (Matter of Snyder) (Matter of Snyder) (Gordon v. Bethlehem Steel Co.) (Gordon v. Bethlehem Steel Co.) (Gordon v. Bethlehem Steel Co.) (Purvin v. Grey) (Purvin v. Grey) (Purvin v. Grey) (Grossman v. McAuliffe Printing Co., Inc.) (Grossman v. McAuliffe Printing Co., Inc.) (Grossman v. McAuliffe Printing Co., Inc.) (Guardian Life Ins. Co. v. Graves) (Guardian Life Ins. Co. v. Graves) (Guardian Life Ins. Co. v. Graves) (Guardian Life Ins. Co. v. Graves) (Guinane v. Becker) (Guinane v. Becker) (Guinane v. Becker) (Hahn v. Luria Steel & Trading Corp.) (Hahn v. Luria Steel & Trading Corp.) (Hahn v. Luria Steel & Trading Corp.) (Hahn v. Luria Steel & Trading Corp.)