Originally published under the title Asceticism and Eroticism in the Mythology of Siva, this book traces the development of an Indian approach to an enduring human dilemma: the conflict between spiritual aspirations and human desires. The work examines hundreds of related myths and a wide range of Indian texts--Vedic, Puranic, classical, modern, and tribal--centering on the stories of the great ascetic, Siva, and his erotic alter ego, Kama.

Historically, the Bible has been used to drive a wedge between the spirit and the body. In this provocative book, David Carr argues that it can--and should--do just the opposite. Sexuality and spirituality, Carr contends, are intricately interwoven: when one is improverished, the other is warped. As a result, the journey toward God and the life-long engagement with our own sexual embodiment are inseparable. Humans, the Bible tells us, both male and female, were created in God's image, and eros--a fundamental longing for connection that finds abstract good in the pleasure we derive from the stimulation of the senses--is a central component of that image. The Bible, particularly the Hebrew Bible, affirms erotic passion, both eros between humans and eros between God and humans. In a sweeping examination of the sexual rules of the Bible, Carr asserts that Biblical "family values" are a far cry from anything promoted as such in contemporary politics. He concludes that passionate love--our preoccupaton therewith and pursuit thereof--is the primary human vocation, that eros is in fact the flavoring of life.

Imagine spending your whole life searching for the one; searching for acceptance; searching for just a hint of satisfaction. Imagine walking through life alone, confused, and convinced you will never find what it is your heart desires. Jared Covington is such a man in search of all things life has promised, but has not delivered. I'm On My Way is a passionate tale of a sometimes bitter, sometimes angry, but always hopeful young man and his search to undercover the love of his life and in the process, himself. In terse, fluid prose, David paints three-dimensional portraits of each of his main characters. Set against the backdrop of New York City, the book addresses critical issues surrounding being black, gay and at times closeted in America without sounding preachy. David's high quality of writing, and carefully developed themes seamlessly takes us into the hearts and minds of several young men sorting through some of life's most pressing issues. This engrossing debut, challenges stereotypes, emits hope, and brings to life the often-misunderstood world of gay minorities.

The voluminous contemporary critical work on English Renaissance androgyny/transvestism has not fully uncovered the ancient Greek and Roman roots of the gender controversy. This work argues that the variant Renaissance views on the androgyne's symbolism are, in fact, best understood with reference to classical representations of the double-sexed or gender-baffled figures, and with the classical merging of the figure with images of beasts and monsters.

Argues that most adult sexual behavior is influenced by childhood experiences, and looks at perversion, fetishes, obscenity, homosexuality, transvestism, and psychoanalytic treatment