Sex and Bacon: Why I Love Things That Are Very, Very Bad for Me

The funny parts of this book are literally laugh-out-loud funny. The foody parts are enticing. The gross parts are pretty damn gross. And the sad parts are sad, but tempered by the tenderness and good humor and intelligence of the author. Ms. Lewis transcends her genre(s) in a big way. Like her first book, this one is impossible to put down until it's finished because the author's voice is so compelling. I always want to hear more of what she has to say.

There is only one word to sum up this book - MORE. Sarah Katherine wants more. More sex, more pleasure from food, more love, more of life. Her unflinching essays pour out of this book and hold nothing back. Emotion, raunch, lust. I wanted each essay to keep going. I wanted the book to keep going. I devoured this book, and I do believe that is exactly what SK is doing with life.

There are three interwoven subjects in this book. I'll pass on having anything to say about the "bacon" or to make it clearer, the descriptions of why and how Sarah goes about preparing a variety of meals, often meals to please her man or a close friend. I have no qualifications to comment on this portion of the book except to say that it is obvious that Sarah goes about preparing and enjoying meals with a love. Interspersed throughout Sex and Bacon are some wonderful insights and tales about the people (mostly men) she encountered in her years as a sex worker. It is most interesting to understand how sex workers feel about their customers as well as to learn about the unusual ( one might even say bizarre or crazy) scenarios that men want and will pay dearly (in dollars) to experience. Some of the stories gave me mixed feelings of humor and a kind of disgust. It is a challenge at times to cope with a woman sex worker having such an occupation and at the same time having so many desires for what many of us would call a standard life of romance, love, wanting to be loved and respected, sometimes wanting children, and enjoying such a life. The third subject and to me the most interesting one is getting to know Sarah. For a number of years I have been privileged as well as pleased to have been on Sarah's friend's list in her Live Journal. I have seen and felt in her a woman who has a most wonderful, interesting, and humorous way of expressing herself in the written word. I was originally pointed to her journal and told that she was a most unusual and interesting person. And that she is. As I realized her ever so human needs and feelings, and the contrast with being a sex worker, I "adopted" her to encourage her in many ways. There are so many facets to her that often show in her book. Even when she occasionally gets a little sarcastic or discouraged, one can connect with her and feel her loving personality. I am so happy that she is writing as it is something she always desired to do and she obviously is very good at it. I am also happy from a kind of fatherly way that she is not doing sex work at this time. Sarah has been a sex worker long enough that she handles it well. To me it is that she no longer has to be exposed to many men looking to experience ejaculation according to strange scenarios. I do understand why and how she became a sex worker, but from my accepting fatherly view, I prefer that she not be in this business. Read this book if you want to meet an unusual and wonderful person.

There is something incredibly unique about SKL. In all of my experiences reading, I have never been so completely turned on, disgusted, amused and hungry at the same time. She is a highly intelligent woman with a talent for sucking readers of all different ages and backgrounds, and it is obvious that she knows exactly what she's doing when she sits down at her computer (albeit sticky, of course). I love love love love this book. And, actually, I made the tuna noodle casserole to comfort my heart during a recent break-up and it definitely eased the pain, if only for a little while. This book will make you hot, it will make you uncomfortable, but most of all, it will make you want more.

Nearly all of us have been to a restaurant and ordered a breakfast that included bacon at some point in our lives. Bacon is very yummy! The problem is that you usually only get two or three strips along with your meal. So you order another side of bacon and pay a dollar or two extra for another three strips, but is that enough? Sarah Katherine Lewis sets off on the search to find out "How much bacon is 'enough' bacon" in her book "Sex and Bacon: Why I Love Things That Are Very, Very Bad for Me" As a curvy size 10, Miss Lewis mixes recipes with anecdotal stories of her youth to question why anyone would want to limit their experiences in life to a starvation diet. Every passage inside is a celebration of sensuality, sexuality and freedom to live life as one pleases. Lewis states about an associate: "When even a crack habit won't make you as thin as a Hollywood starlet or a fashion model, it's time to reevaluate the beauty standards that keep us literally starving ourselves to death." As you read on you realize that perhaps she's referring to more then just the food we eat... Eventually, Lewis does discover how much bacon is "enough" bacon - but in this case, the reward is both in the journey and the destination. Once you get there, you plot a new course and set off on another adventure. That's what life is all about, isn't it?