Right. Well, where do I start. Firstly by telling those of you seeking cheap thrills and those under sixteen to stop reading now...

This unassuming looking novel found it's way into my suitcase for some entertaining poolside reading. Billed as a 'brilliant testimony', 'a work of libertine philosophy', and 'a truly shocking book that captures a decisive moment in our sexual history'

All I have to say is BALLS (lots of them)

'The Sexual Life of Catherine M' is the Biography of a well known Parisian Art Critic and details her sexual exploits from losing her virginity pretty much to the present day. It doesn't encapsulate every encounter, rather is a stream of tales haphazardly sewn together to produce a patchy work which the critics seem to have loved. But why they should have done so I cannot fathom.

Yes, I will agree that Ms Millet is very honest. She has no qualms in being entirely open (in so many senses...) We watch her engage in group sex and some mild fetish acts. She has no inhibitions, in the flesh, or in her choice of nouns. But to be honest I'm not sure I believed her laid back attitude. Her lifestyle as a 'swinger' seems not to have been chosen, and on that count I do not see how we can applaud her. Catherine M has made a point of having sex indiscriminatly with all who are willing, aided by her 'friend' Eric who struck me as a rather sinister pimp. How many of us found ourselves participating in group sex a few weeks after losing our viginity?! I can't help but feel that she fell into something when she was young and vulnerable. This is compounded by being told that she rarely enjoyed the acts.

Her outlook is blase from start to finish. She recalls neither the faces nor names of most of the men who have enjoyed her. Her first chapter muses on the concept of numbers, prepping us for her belief that it doesn't matter how many you share your bed
with. This is the only scrap of philosophy I found in the entire book, from here on in the prose is bleak and simplistic, and frankly badly written - 'I went here, this happened'.

Described as existential pornography, I felt cheated out of much discussion and insights into WHY. Instead I spent a day wrinkling my nose and trying to work out for myself what was going on in this seemingly intelligent woman's head. She has distanced herself from any shred of emotion, and as such her tale is positively dull.

Catherine Millet has inexpertly prostituted herself here in sharing her swingers lifestyle with the world. But she has shared so much of herself with all and sundry over the years that the story feels second, third hand. You get the feeling any anecdotes have been rehashed many times through constant telling. To be fair perhaps something has been lost in the translation from the French. My personal opinion is that Catherine M has led a sad life where she has been used and exploited, I doubt her indiscretions have lent her any real insights. We are being groomed to believe that this woman had no boundaries, that she walked a line between Art and Life. The only lesson it seems to be teaching is that you can have sex without love. It's 2003, is there anyone left who doesn't already know that?


'The Sexual Life of Catherine M' by Catherine Millet, Published by Corgi £6.99