Great Sex After 40: Strategies for Lifelong Fulfillment »

MARVEL L. WILLIAMSON, Ph.D., R.N., is a sexologist specializing in health issues. Frequently appearing as a guest on television and radio, she is also a contributor to the New York Times, AMA News, Prevention, and other publications.

Discover the secrets of lifelong sexual fulfillment.

As our active years grow longer, what can we expect of our relationships? The truth may surprise you. Both sexes report a wonderful mutual discovery: "The desire—and the ability—to engage in gratifying sex can be sustained for a lifetime!" as leading sexuality and health expert Marvel Williamson tells us in this encouraging book. Great Sex after 40 is your well-informed and candid guide to recognizing and adjusting to the normal sexual changes brought on by aging. It dispels many long-standing myths about the effects of passing years on a healthy libido. And it answers common questions (about pain during intercourse, male dysfunction, and female anorgasmia) you may have been reluctant to ask your physician.You'll find strategies you can implement yourself for lessening the impact on sexual function associated with diseases commonly encountered at middle age and beyond. The advantages and drawbacks of the growing range of corrective surgeries and prescription drugs are fully described from the viewpoints of both patients and their partners. Whether you are approaching your middle years accompanied by a loved one or discovering new relationships later in life, Great Sex after 40 is a reassuring advisor on your journey towards intimacy.

Library Journal

Williamson is a sex educator and a researcher and former director of nursing school. Her warm, well-written, and mostly excellent advice about sexual challenges of aging covers a wide range of physical and medical changes in comprehensible detail. Note, however, that Williamson writes exclusively for heterosexual couples, preferably married and monogamous. In the one paragraph devoted to STDs, she says condoms are not very effective against HIV. There are other odd surprises. The genders are consistently stereotyped, with little mention of variation. She describes problems caused by penis "constriction rings" without seeming to be aware that quick-release, commercially available "cock rings" avoid these problems. The book could also use a resource section. Two more versatile works but with less detailed medical coverage include Robert N. Butler and Myrna I. Lewis's Love and Sex After 60 and (Macmillan Library Ref., 1996) and Saul M. Rosenthal's The New Sex Over 40 (Tarcher, 1999). Recommended with reservations for public libraries.-Martha Cornog, Philadelphia

Sexual Survival in Perspective.
Adjusting to Normal Sexual Changes.
The Sexually Fulfilled Woman.
Preserving Male Sexual Function.
Pain During Sex.
Sex After a Hysterectomy.
Sex and the Prostate.
The Sexual Challenges of Cancer.
The Truth About Sex and Heart Disease.
Staying Sexual No Matter What.
Bibliography.
Index.