The Book of Vice: Very Naughty Things (and How to Do Them)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Sagal very wittily punctures a lot of fantasies that some may entertain about forbidden fruit, in all its various guises. The author is a natural writer. He has the ability to keenly portray the practitioners of various vices, with great insight and telling details. Sagal is hysterically funny as he takes us through the vices of lying, gambling, swinging and so on. I particularly enjoyed how he dissects Bill Clinton lying about Lewinsky...he gives us a fresh take on this familiar scenario. A great read and I hope he writes another book.

Over the years I've dipped my toe in some of the vices Peter explores in his book and came away with the same vague emptiness that he describes. I thought it was just that I didn't "get it". Experiences that I thought would be fun and naughty were, well, pretty dull. Peter does a great job of describing what he sees and how he feels about it without getting preachy. He's funny and clever throughout and I thoroughly enjoyed this read and his conclusion that no matter what you're into, he perceives that most people are a bit disappointed to find it wasn't as fun as they thought and have a sense of always wondering if there's isn't something they are missing out on just over the horizon. If you were looking for precise "how to" books, this isn't the one, and never intended to be.

It's taken a while for someone to come out with a worthy counterpoint for William Bennett's Book of Virtues, but Peter Sagal makes the wait worthwhile (or should I say the Wait, Wait.. ?). My contrived attempt at humor aside, The Book of Vice is a far more enjoyable read than most attempts to explain and rationalize or criticize the various vices of our times. Never straying from the intelligence that is a hallmark of his "Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me" show on NPR, Sagal manages to package information about what some might regard as "the dark side" of human nature into a bemusing recounting of his research into the things that drive the cash to and from the likes of Bill Bennett, anonymous swingers, conspicuous consumers, and other gluttonous souls with far too much money and time. Along the way he makes a number of observations (substantiated or not) regarding trendsetters with roots in the Midwest (don't laugh, get us past the Rockies or the Appalachians and we just might surprise you) and other cultural influences. He also (either knowingly or not) provides ample evidence that he is married to a wonderful saint of a woman, Beth, who accompanies him on his research. For those of you with more prurient interests, you're going to be disappointed. Yes, they attend a party at the Swingers's Shack. No, they don't indulge in anything more than conversation and innocent observance of the uh... mingling. In the area of gastronomical vice the Peter/Beth duo become a little more participatory, and I would have loved to be seated at the next table as Peter interviewed three female porn stars while Beth chatted enthusiastically with each of them about non-biz type topics. But it's all interesting, and it might surprise some readers to discover that the more you know about some vices like polyamorous sex, gambling, conspicuous consumption and pornography, the less likely you might be inclined to indulge in them (okay... some of them). Some of the erstwhile revelations aren't all that revelatory actually; casino gambling is stacked in favor of the casinos, strippers really are interested more in the money than their customers and being rich doesn't always mean that you know the best ways to spend money. But through Sagal you'll meet some very interesting (and yes, nice) people. Some who've learned lessons and evolved away from (or deeper into their vices), and others that simply manage to put things into a perspective that makes sense at least for themselves. With that in mind, I'd like to offer a special nod to Ms. Nina Hartley. Thanks to Peter Sagal, I can now appreciate you for your mind as well as your appearance!

Peter Sagal is the whip-smart host of NPR's news quiz show Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fans of the program will be delighted to learn that Sagal is also now the author of a deliciously titled (and even more deliciously subtitled) exploration of iniquity: The Book of Vice: Very Naughty Things (And How to Do Them). The book is as fun as its title suggests. Sagal discusses a different vice in each of the book's seven chapters--though sex looms as the dominant theme of three of them--dropping keen observations while describing his research into the subject at hand. For his first chapter, for example, on swinging, Sagal and his wife Beth observed the goings-on at a weekly swinger's party. He describes the logistics of the operation--the uses to which the various rooms of the place were put--while trying to understand the nature of the Lifestyle: becoming emotionally attached to the people you have sex with is not the done thing, for example, yet people who are in it only for the sex are apparently frowned on as well. In the end Sagal finds that he is not cut out for swinging himself: "We are told, via their occasional interviews in the press, that swingers or Lifestylers or whatever are no different from you and me...they meet up to socialize, talk, drink, and dance with their good friends, old and new. And then they have sex with them. Which makes me stop, and consider the various good friends my wife and I have, and then consider how it would be if one of our suburban dinner parties ended with us removing our clothes and performing sexual acts, and I have to put my head between my knees and take deep breaths." Elsewhere in the book Sagal writes about strip clubs and pornography. For the latter chapter he visits the set of a live, call-in sex show. (The stars of the show perform whatever acts their caller prescribes while a roomful of camera operators and lighting guys and directors watch, rather bored, from behind a thick glass partition.) Rounding out the book are chapters on gambling, eating, conspicuous consumption, and lying. Sagal is a charming and funny guide through these particular avenues of sin. Maybe if you've done the things he describes--the $500-a-pull slot machines and 24-course dinners (that leave you hungry for Jack-in-the-Box), lap-dancing and lying and live broadcast sex--you'll find the book humdrum. For the rest of us armchair sinners it's pure pleasure. -- Debra Hamel

While this is nominally a book about vices, it is really a book about virtues, and it is an effective one: there are no lectures, no finger wagging a la Bill Bennett, no holier than thou passages. The chapter on lying savages those who bald face lie, taking apart Holocost deniers and Kerry defamers and both presidents Clinton and Bush. The one on consumption is a thoughtful review of evolutionary biology (we are wired to display the fruits of our wealth; it helps with a female finding a mate that will ensure the genes get passed on; who knew:waste is sexy) and how this wiring--- once useful --- now makes us do nutty stuff , like paying millions for celeb musicians to play at sweet sixteen parties. The chapter on swinging reminds us---as with many of the vices---that, as Shaw remarked, there are two great tragadies---one not to get your hearts desire , the other to get it. Sagal reminds us, in the end, not to get too worked up over what we think we don't have that others do, to be grateful for the small things, and to understand that a life without tempting vices is a life well worth living