Welcome
FIERCE DESIRES: A NEW HISTORY OF SEX AND SEXUALITY IN AMERICA
"[F]ascinating . . . [Davis] wants to show how the battles of today—over issues like gender nonconformity and reproductive rights—have antecedents that have been forgotten or suppressed."
—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker
"Davis brings [the archives] to life in spellbindingly human detail...When viewed through the lens of history, sex is no longer a private act but a litmus test for political repression; the only way to know where we're going is to know where we've been."
—Charley Burlock, Oprah Daily
"Important, ambitious, and entertaining."
—Becca Rothfeld, Washington Post
"Davis's sprawling account of sex and sexuality over the course of American history traverses the various behaviors, beliefs, debates, identities, and subcultures that have shaped the way we understand connection, desire, gender, and power. Comprehensive, rigorous, and unafraid to challenge readers, this history illuminates the present with brutal and startling clarity."
—Sophia Stewart, The Millions
"In this time of fierce debates over issues such as abortion, LGBTQ+ rights, and medical treatment for transgender youths, Davis offers a powerful corrective to a static picture of the past….Deeply researched and revealing."
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"FierceDesires: A New History of Sex and Sexuality in America, by scholar Rebecca Davis, is an absorbing sorta-secret road trip through the ways in which contemporary fears about identity and sexualized culture have 400 years of antecedents, profiling the subcultures, pioneers and anti-sex crusaders who still echo through generations."
—Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune
Fierce Desires is on the list!
Boston Globe: "20 Books We Can't Wait to Read This Fall"
The Next Big Idea Club: September 2024 "Must Read" Books
Apple Books: "Fall's Most Anticipated" nonfiction titles
The Millions: "Most Anticipated: The Great Summer 2024 Preview"
The New Yorker: "The Best Books We've Read in 2024 So Far"
Kirkus Reviews: "20 Best Books to Read in September"
Rebecca answers "3Q" about Fierce Desires on The Society Pages of the Council on Contemporary Families (August 27, 2024)
Rebecca takes the stage at Joe's Pub at The Public Theater in New York City for the House of SpeakEasy literary cabaret! (fast forward to minute 8)
A feature about Fierce Desires on "The Author's Corner" at Current, an online journal of commentary and opinion
Subscribe to my newsletter, Carnal Knowledge, for regular updates about the history behind today's headlines on issues of sex, LGBTQ rights, and reproductive healthcare.