Mistress Contract - Softcover

"The Mistress Contract is most interesting for its honest portrayal of a long-term relationship outside the bounds of marriage. How He and She view their differences and handle their life crises is . . . revealing." --The New York Journal of Books "What shocks in The Mistress Contract is the discourse, not the intercourse. The Foucault, not the f#@king. As He and She go at it with the brainy chemistry of Beatrice and Benedick, the naked opinions expressed about men, women, and feminism are challenging, frequently infuriating, thought-provoking and just plain provoking, witty, poignant, and astonishingly progressive, considering the context of the recordings." --Joni Rodgers, Boxing the Octopus "This is not a book for everyone, but for the right readers, it offers a way into contemplating the making and meaning of unconventional relationships. If you're open to the questions it asks, you simply can't help but be changed in some way by The Mistress Contract. And really, you should buy a copy if for no other reasons than 1) you know you're curious, and 2) it's sexy AND smart." --Rebecca Schinsky, The Booklady's Blog ""The Mistress Contract" is most interesting for its honest portrayal of a long-term relationship outside the bounds of marriage. How He and She view their differences and handle their life crises is . . . revealing." --"The New York Journal of Books" "What shocks in "The Mistress Contract" is the discourse, not the intercourse. The Foucault, not the f#@king. As He and She go at it with the brainy chemistry of Beatrice and Benedick, the naked opinions expressed about men, women, and feminism are challenging, frequently infuriating, thought-provoking and just plain provoking, witty, poignant, and astonishingly progressive, considering the context of the recordings." --Joni Rodgers, "Boxing the Octopus" "This is not a book for everyone, but for the right readers, it offers a way into contemplating the making and meaning of unconventional relationships. If you're open to the questions it asks, you simply can't help but be changed in some way by "The Mistress Contract." And really, you should buy a copy if for no other reasons than 1) you know you're curious, and 2) it's sexy AND smart." --Rebecca Schinsky, "The Booklady's Blog" ""The Mistress Contract" is most interesting for its honest portrayal of a long-term relationship outside the bounds of marriage. How He and She view their differences and handle their life crises is . . . revealing." --"The New York Journal of Books" "What shocks in "The Mistress Contract" is the discourse, not the intercourse. The Foucault, not the f#@king. As He and She go at it with the brainy chemistry of Beatrice and Benedick, the naked opinions expressed about men, women, and feminism are challenging, frequently infuriating, thought-provoking and just plain provoking, witty, poignant, and astonishingly progressive, considering the context of the recordings." --Joni Rodgers, "Boxing the Octopus" "This is not a book for everyone, but for the right readers, it offers a way into contemplating the making and meaning of unconventional relationships. If you're open to the questions it asks, you simply can't help but be changed in some way by "The Mistress Contract." And really, you should buy a copy if for no other reasons than 1) you know you're curious, and 2) it's sexy AND smart." --Rebecca Schinsky, "The Booklady's Blog"

The Mistress Contract opens with a document that a woman sent to her wealthy lover for his signature sometime in the 1980s. The contract establishes an exchange that she thinks fair: If he will provide adequate accommodations for her and cover her expenses, she will provide to him the following "mistress services" -- all housekeeping duties and all sexual acts as requested, with suspension of historical, emotional, psychological disclaimers. For the duration of the Agreement, she will become his sexual property. Upon receipt of the document, he phoned her immediately to accept. For 20 years afterward, this extraordinary and unconventional couple recorded their conversations about their relationship, conversations that took place while traveling, over dinner, and even in bed. This book is the transcript of those tapes and a record of all they had to say about the arrangement, its power relations, its sexual politics.