Ravenscroft
Banned
Over the years, I acquired a few dozen books dealing with subjects of alternative lifestyles -- my, doesn't that term sound quaint nowadays -- & human sexuality.
In the 1980s, there was no such thing as the Internet, & seeking an out-of-print scholarly work, even on temporary interlibrary loan, was arduous. I was fortunate enough to be researching nonmonogamy when the University of Minnesota decided to shut down a specialty library on human sexuality & pare back the collection. Most of the volumes were handed over to my favorite shop, The Book House, at scrap prices, & generally priced for $5 or less. This was a downer, as the National Council on Family Relations was nearby (since relocated to Saint Paul), & the collection had brought together various University departments. On the upside, I was able to buy some volumes that I'd never have seen.
Twice, I was set to donate the stack to a small specialty library, only to have it announced that the famility was shutting down. If anyone knows of someplace these books might be welcomed at, please let me know.
I meant to post something about this quite some time ago. What brought it back to mind is that I was looking at an abstract of a Sage book published 2001, Alternative Lifestyles Revisited, or Whatever Happened to Swingers, Group Marriages, and Communes?. Only now did I notice that the page contains the entire bibliography... leave out the "pop lit" articles, & I've read fully half the works cited.
Made me feel proud, & a little old.
Anyway, I've been intending to start a thread where I bring up one volume at a time, & say why I think that poly-leaning people ought to read it. Stay tuned.
In the 1980s, there was no such thing as the Internet, & seeking an out-of-print scholarly work, even on temporary interlibrary loan, was arduous. I was fortunate enough to be researching nonmonogamy when the University of Minnesota decided to shut down a specialty library on human sexuality & pare back the collection. Most of the volumes were handed over to my favorite shop, The Book House, at scrap prices, & generally priced for $5 or less. This was a downer, as the National Council on Family Relations was nearby (since relocated to Saint Paul), & the collection had brought together various University departments. On the upside, I was able to buy some volumes that I'd never have seen.
Twice, I was set to donate the stack to a small specialty library, only to have it announced that the famility was shutting down. If anyone knows of someplace these books might be welcomed at, please let me know.
I meant to post something about this quite some time ago. What brought it back to mind is that I was looking at an abstract of a Sage book published 2001, Alternative Lifestyles Revisited, or Whatever Happened to Swingers, Group Marriages, and Communes?. Only now did I notice that the page contains the entire bibliography... leave out the "pop lit" articles, & I've read fully half the works cited.
Made me feel proud, & a little old.
Anyway, I've been intending to start a thread where I bring up one volume at a time, & say why I think that poly-leaning people ought to read it. Stay tuned.