Join us on a literary world trip!
Add this book to bookshelf
Grey
Write a new comment Default profile 50px
Grey
Subscribe to read the full book or read the first pages for free!
All characters reduced
Naked at Lunch - A Reluctant Nudist's Adventures in the Clothing-Optional World - cover

Sorry, the publisher does not allow users to read this book from the country from which you are connecting.

Naked at Lunch - A Reluctant Nudist's Adventures in the Clothing-Optional World

Mark Haskell Smith

Publisher: Grove Press

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Summary

People have been getting naked in public for reasons other than sex for centuries. But as novelist and narrative journalist Mark Haskell Smith shows in Naked at Lunch, being a nudist is more complicated than simply dropping trou. “Nonsexual social nudism,” as it’s called, rose to prominence in the late nineteenth century. Intellectuals, outcasts, and health nuts from Victorian England and colonial India to Belle Époque France and Gilded Age Manhattan disrobed and wrote manifestos about the joys of going clothing-free. From stories of ancient Greek athletes slathered in olive oil to the millions of Germans who fled the cities for a naked frolic during the Weimar Republic to American soldiers given “naturist” magazines by the Pentagon in the interest of preventing sexually transmitted diseases, Haskell Smith uncovers nudism’s amusing and provocative past.Naked at Lunch is equal parts cultural history and gonzo participatory journalism. Coated in multiple layers of high SPF sunblock, Haskell Smith dives into the nudist world today. He publicly disrobes for the first time in Palm Springs, observes the culture of family nudism in a clothing-free Spanish town, and travels to the largest nudist resort in the world, a hedonist’s paradise in the south of France. He reports on San Francisco’s controversial ban on public nudity, participates in a week of naked hiking in the Austrian Alps, and caps off his adventures with a week on the Big Nude Boat, a Caribbean cruise full of nudists.
Available since: 06/02/2015.

Other books that might interest you

  • Inside One Author's Heart - cover

    Inside One Author's Heart

    Eugenia Price

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    Inside One Author’s Heart offers a rare glimpse behind the image of a bestselling writer. Instead of her sweeping tales of the Old South, Ms. Price focuses on herself, her readers, and the special way in which they nourish each other. She tells it straight–with “warts and flaws” and, at all times, an endearing sense of humor about herself and her work. Here Ms. Price reveals how she creates her haunting novels, and how she brings her characters to life on paper. Here are the heartfelt dialogues between Ms. Price and her readers. Here is the real Eugenia Price, eternally optimistic, yet strangely intimidated by her own success. The story ranges from Ms. Price’s early years as a writer living in Chicago, to how she fled in the 1960’s for privacy to the sanctuary of St. Simons Island. And this is the most riveting part of her narrative. This deeply private and spiritual woman not only absorbed her new surroundings, she also created a mystique about the island and its history.
    Show book
  • Winter's Playground - The Timeless Tales of Snowy Recreation - cover

    Winter's Playground - The...

    Timothy Whittenburg

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    Discover Whispers of Winter: A Journey Through Snow-Covered Memories  
     
    The pulse of adventure syncs with the crunch of fresh snow underfoot in this enchanting compendium, "Winter's Playground: Timeless Tales of Snowy Recreation." It captures the essence of winter sports and the soul in each snowflake. Dive into the evolution of skiing and snowboarding, from subversive beginnings to global phenomena. Stand with hockey legends, tracing the sport from humble pond games to national pride. Explore Nordic skiing's serene silence and the age-old joy of sledding. Roar through quiet landscapes on snowmobiles, connecting communities with trails. 
     
    Discover the endurance and companionship in dog sledding, the elegance of figure skating, and the strategic dance of curling. Delight in the craft of snow sculpting and global celebrations coloring the coldest months. Look ahead to the sustainable future of these cherished pastimes and reflect on preserving winter's magic amid change. "Winter's Playground" is more than historical facts; it's an invitation to continue the legacy, to add your story to the snowy recreation saga. Bundle up, step into frostbitten air, and prepare to etch your path on winter's canvas.
    Show book
  • Serving Up Love - A Four-in-One Harvey House Brides Collection - cover

    Serving Up Love - A Four-in-One...

    Tracie Peterson, Karen...

    • 1
    • 17
    • 0
    Bestselling novelist Tracie Peterson joins Karen Witemeyer, Regina Jennings, and Jen Turano in this collection of four novellas, each featuring a Harvey Girl heroine. From Kansas to Texas, the Grand Canyon to New Mexico, the stories cross the country with tales of sweet romance and entertaining history. In Karen Witemeyer's "More Than a Pretty Face," a young woman works her hardest to escape poor choices from her youth. Tracie Peterson offers "A Flood of Love," where reuniting with an old flame after more than a decade offers unexpected results. Regina Jennings's "Intrigue a la Mode" delights with a tale of a young woman determined to help support her family, despite warnings of danger nearby. And Jen Turano's "Grand Encounters" heads to the Grand Canyon with a tale of a society belle intent on finding a new life for herself.
    Show book
  • A Political Companion to Philip Roth - cover

    A Political Companion to Philip...

    Claudia Franziska Brühwiler, Lee...

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    “Demonstrates powerfully the manifold ways in which Roth’s writing often helped to shape, and was in turn shaped by, the larger political climate.” —David Brauner, author of Contemporary American Fiction 
     
    Widely acknowledged as one of the twentieth century’s most prolific and acclaimed writers, Philip Roth received the National Book Award for his first novel, Goodbye, Columbus, and followed this stunning debut with more than thirty books—earning another National Book Award, two National Book Critics Circle awards, three PEN/Faulkner Awards, and the Pulitzer Prize. Throughout his career, Roth delighted in controversy—yet often denied that he sought a role as a public intellectual. His statements and vigorous support of suppressed writers in communist Czechoslovakia, however, tell a different story. 
     
    In A Political Companion to Philip Roth, established and rising scholars explore the myriad political themes in the author’s work. Several of the contributors examine Roth’s writings on Jewish identity, Zionism, and American attitudes toward Israel, as well as the influence of his work in other countries. Others investigate Roth’s articulation of the roles of gender and sexuality in US culture. This interdisciplinary examination offers a more complete portrait of Roth as a public intellectual and cultural icon. It not only fills a gap in scholarship, but also provides a broader perspective on the nature and purpose of the acclaimed writer’s political thought. 
     
    “Addresses a void in discussions of Roth’s work by looking at his thinking on political matters, particularly as they involve identity, the American Jewish experience, Israel, and Cold War fears of communism.” —Choice
    Show book
  • Nobody Will Shoot You If You Make Them Laugh - cover

    Nobody Will Shoot You If You...

    Simon Murray

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    In Nobody Will Shoot You If You Make Them Laugh: One Man's Journey Through The Mountains And Valleys of Life, the businessman and adventurer Simon Murray tells his extraordinary life story. From an orphanage in Leicester through the rigours and brutality of the English public school system in the 1950s, to a five-year spell in French Foreign Legion, his early life was recounted in his million-selling book Legionnaire. Since 1965 he has been one of the most successful businessmen operating out of Hong Kong. Starting as a sales manager for Jardine Matheson he worked his way up to running Hutchison Whampoa. He has also been actively involved with the Hong Kong Electricity Company, Deutsche Bank Asia Pacific, Glencore and Huawei among others. In-between he founded Orange and other mobile telephone operators across Asia and Africa. He has been off the path many times: climbed in the Atlas Mountains; trekked up to Everest and Annapurna; climbed Kilimanjaro and abseiled down the Shard in London. He is the oldest man to walk unsupported to the South Pole. He has run the Marathon des Sables, 250 kilometres across the Moroccan desert when he was 60 years old, and follows his motto 'Do not follow where the path may lead, but go instead where there is no path and leave a trail' somewhat earnestly. He was awarded the CBE from the Queen and been decorated with the Order of Merit and the Legion d'Honneur in France. He claims his greatest success is his marriage of 54 years to Jennifer and the raising of three children and his six grandchildren.
    Show book
  • When Secrets Become Stories - Women Speak Out - cover

    When Secrets Become Stories -...

    Sue Nyathi

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    She was asking for it.
    She should have known better.
    Bekezela (persevere), she was told.
    It's because I love you, he said.
    It's not that bad, she told herself.
    In sharing their experiences from girlhood to the boardroom, from Cape Town's suburbs to the hills of KwaZulu- Natal, women from different walks of life show how chillingly common male violence against women is. Together, their voices form a deafening chorus.
    Gender-based violence feeds on shame and silence but in this extraordinary collection, brave women reclaim their power and summon the courage in others to do the same.
    In speaking out, sharing what was once secret, shame's hold is broken.
    Heart-rending at times, it is the honesty and courage of the writing that truly inspires.
    Show book