The Fastest "Yes!" In The West

Excerpt from The Killing of an Author

(This chapter is dedicated to Restoril, manufactured by Novartis)

At last. On November 22, 1991, The Revised Kama Sutra, 625 pages and about 140,000 words long, a book that did not skimp on any of its main subjects—India, sex, Catholicism, childhood—was finally ready to go out into the world. I wrote to Camille:

 Even, to be Honest, My Sex Life . . .

To Camille Hykes, November 22, 1991

Dear Camille:

At last! The book you made me feel you so much wanted to read! Thank you for making the last three months among the best of my life.

It did take three months, during which I neglected my...