Mind of Its Own : A Cultural History of the Penis

by Friedman, David M. (Author)

• ISBN13: 9780142002599
• ISBN10: 0142002593
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-01-01
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)

Summary

Setting out to "make intellectual and emotional sense of a man's relationship with his defining organ," David Friedman moves from highbrow to lowbrow in this lighthearted but substantive cultural history. Successively viewed as a life source, a symbol of a sacred covenant with God, an emblem of shame, an instrument of domination, a mere prop for the pharmaceutical companies, and finally, as simply a means of penetration-the penis has always been at the core of Western man's (and woman's) cultural evolution. With such luminaries as Leonardo da Vinci, Sigmund Freud, Walt Whitman, and Norman Mailer marking their territory on the subject, A Mind of Its Ownis an intelligent and often hilarious account of man's complicated bond with his closest friend.

Author Biography

David M. Friedman has written for Esquire, GQ, Rolling Stone, Vogue, The Village Voice, and many other publications. He has been a reporter for Newsday and the Philadelphia Daily News.