In this collection of essays derived from ten years' work on the subject of sexuality and its meanings, William Simon argues that we can only make sense of our sexuality within the larger project of making sense of our humanity. The essays here range widely, from changes in the social construction of deviance and perversion to the experience of adolescence and the myth of the Wild West. Through them all, William Simon rethinks the Freudian model, showing how sexuality has become for us not, as we might once have thought, a unifying thread in our experience, but rather the ultimate postmodern discourse. Intellectually profound, politically engaged and consistently challenging, this book will be essential reading for all those with an interest in sexuality in a world of continuing transformation.