Letters of Note: Sex

by Shaun Usher (Editor)(Compiler), Virginia Woolf (Contributor), Elizabeth II (Contributor)

*Running Time => 4 hrs.*

A surprising and varied collection of letters on the subject of sex curated by the founder of the globally popular Letters of Note website.

The first volume in the bestselling Letters of Note series was a collection of hundreds of the world's most entertaining, inspiring, and unusual letters, based on the seismically popular website of the same name--an online museum of correspondence visited by over 70 million people. From Virginia Woolf's heartbreaking suicide letter, to Queen Elizabeth II's recipe for drop scones sent to President Eisenhower; from the first recorded use of the expression 'OMG' in a letter to Winston Churchill, to Gandhi's appeal for calm to Hitler; and from Iggy Pop's beautiful letter of advice to a troubled young fan, to Leonardo da Vinci's remarkable job application letter. Now, the curator of Letters of Note, Shaun Usher, gives us wonderful new volumes featuring letters organized around a universal theme.
In this volume, Shaun Usher turns to the subject of sex. Includes many more contributors.


©2021 Respective authors of all material within (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, Romance, History, Adult, Essays

4 pages, Audible Audio

First published May 6, 2021

About the author

Shaun Usher is a writer, editor, and compulsive collector of remarkable words. He is the author of Letters of Note, an international bestseller that began life as a blog and grew into a celebrated series of books and inspired the live stage show Letters Live, which he has co-produced since 2013. He has published 16 books so far, covering everything from love and grief to music, dogs, and outer space, and in October 2025 will release his 17th, Diaries of Note: 366 Lives, One Day at a Time, a curated journey through a year’s worth of diary entries from history. He lives in Manchester with his wife, Karina, and their three children.

Reviews

[🌶 peppersocks 🧦 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reflections and lessons learned:
“All the real tragedies of sex come from disassociation either of the old maid who
sternly refuses to think about sex at all until finally she can think about nothing else-
and goes crazy-or of the man who goes from one wanton's arms to another seeking
only the immediate sensation of the moment and never linking it up with other parts
of his life” Margaret Mead

Hehehe… this one comes with a ‘for adults’ warning, and I like it! I suspect that just as a lot of women find their groove they go through a similar mini rollercoaster… ooo, bodies are great…. Gahhh!!! Thrush!!! This is why the written word is the best way around navigating parts of this very necessary part of life - written emotions to work all this flesh business out for individuals.

I love the thought of Usher looking at piles of letters for research and trying to decide whether it would be sexy love or romantic love. Dian fossey! Popey popey! Shocking for some of the individuals but that could be me enjoying a little bit of British prudishness. Some killer insights into some characters - wonderfully fnar fnar giggly in places and some phwoar - a great one for sharing together

“How honest can we get about sex? I suppose it would be dangerous to admit that, at its best, sex is fun. But I would hasten to add that, at its worst, sex is self-destructive and criminal. There must be a happy medium--a common ground--where sex canmeet with self-respect and unite to produce peace of mind for every individual” Mae West

[Mira · Rating 2 out of 5]

As with any compilation, Letters of Note: Sex was a mixed bag of some beautiful prose and funny anecdotes, alongside the expected mundane and belligerent whining of men. However, the main reason for my two star rating was the inclusion of a rather disgusting account by director Dalton Thrombo, to his son, on his paedophilic tendencies (revealed only after he tediously waxed on about masturbation for 12 pages). At the very least, that deserved a trigger warning, and honestly I am still completely baffled and appalled at the letter's inclusion in the first place-it has nothing to do with sex, after all.

The passionate poetry of Frida Kahlo, the biting wit and lust of Anais Nin and Henry Miller, the anonymous but powerful debates of sex workers to Charles Dickens-these fascinating pieces almost make up for that mistake. Almost.

[Cinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This book wasn’t as pleasant as the one about Love. Some of the letters made me laugh, some made me cringe, and some were downright gross, but the one penned by Another Unfortunate had me on my knees. It was gorgeous and so moving. I can’t get enough of these letters. So, even when they were a little shitty, they kept me entertained enough to keep going.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised that some of these letters were really funny and weird. There's one that's an ode to a broken vibrator, and The Masturbator's Masturbator was the most incredibly, self-depractingly hilarious one in the collection.

[Becky Ginther · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what this book was going to be like but I have to say I loved it. It's a collection of letters that are all on the topic of sex - and they really do run the gamut of perspectives and approaches. Many of them are older (from when letter writing was more common) though some are more recent. They are mostly short, so even if one didn't resonate it didn't take too much time.

Overall I thought it was great because there truly are so many different viewpoints and it was really eye-opening to hear how others view this topic. Some are heartfelt, some are funny, some are pretty dirty, and some of heartbreaking. But in my opinion the more we can talk about sex without making it seem like some taboo, scary thing, the better. A few highlights for me:

Letter 1 - really enjoyed this one because it placed a positive emphasis on sex. "You must realize that your body has been given you as an instrument of joy... you must never think it wrong of it to sing. For your body was made to sing to another's touch."

Letter 6 - this was a funny one that made me laugh out loud.

Letter 7 - a letter from Mae West who spoke openly and earnestly about how important it is to embrace sex, but also to do so in a smart and educational way from early on. "I believe the more we are prepared to accept sex in our lives without a distorting sense of guilt and fear, the less tragic will be any of its consequences."

Letter 10 - this one felt at times a bit literary and I liked the overall message about how sex must combine with emotions to truly be powerful. "only the united beat of sex and heart together can create ecstasy."

Letter 11 - this touches on incest and it's somewhat uncomfortable to listen to, but I still tried to keep an open mind to understand the perspective. I mean my instinct was "oh no, no, no"... but I still found it interesting.

Letter 13 - Apologies because this one got pretty dirty so I'll put the quote in spoilers but "When you return I am going to give you one literary f**kfest. That means f**king, and talking, and talking, and f**king, and a bottle of Anjou in between."

Letter 18 - another hilarious one about "Max Standby," basically a eulogy to her vibrator that had died.

Letter 24 - this one was way too long. It's over half an hour and it's weird. The length felt out of place with all the other letters - I would have preferred this one not be included or at least edited down.

I listened to this one on audio and it had a few different narrators reading the various letters. There was maybe one narrator who I felt perhaps didn't get the tone of the letter quite right, but the rest were all excellent.

[Chloe Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a hardbound completion book from the original Letters of Note that sits on my coffee table and is beautiful with illustrations, letters and content. Since the original book, further, add-on books have been created. This add-on is small, contains 27 letters and is for adults only, there is a warning about this at the start of the book.

Some of the letters were a little outdated, didn’t really cover the subject as I thought and just didn’t get me as enthralled as I hoped. Letter number 4 is the most relatable and enjoyable and did make me smile throughout as well as laugh.

I have a few of the other add-on books such as dogs, New York, Mothers and Fathers to read which I will review once read.

[Rain · Rating 1 out of 5]

This wasn’t a book on sex but a book on misogyny, which might have been fine if it came with an appropriate commentary but unfortunately it did not. Disappointing.

[Katy Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully insightful and humorous addition to the series.

I read the first two in the series when they first came out, beautiful hardback versions with copies of the original letters and transcripts, the backstories included - coffee table books and a series that made me feel included in secret histories.

This series has now expanded to include a wealth of more specialised areas, from dogs to space, and here, the Adult Only entry - Sex.

Now I listened to this edition, and while I loved the voices and the letters and hearing them read out, it's a very 'visual' read so I did miss seeing the actual letters and handwriting and feeling more connected to the stories and people. The Audible readers are excellent, and it was well-produced and highly engaging, but if you want to SEE these letter it does feel lacking, especially as it's only a few hours long.

The letters themselves are superb. Some very serious, some offering advice, some frank, some revolutionary in their outlook and some tea-spitting-out hilarious. A mixture of more and less well-known names, with the background to each included as much as necessary to understand the context.

It's one I'll want to listen to again, definitely, and write down some names and stories to look into in more detail.

Adult content. For lovers (pun intended) of social history and letter writing and.... adult themes.

With thanks to Nudge Books for providing a sample Audible copy.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Penguin Group Penguin Books for an advanced copy of this collection.

Shaun Usher has compiled in his new collection Letters of Note: Sex some of the more spicier, beguiling, exploratory and did I mention spicy letters and correspondence dealing with the subject of S-E-X. Not an erotic collection, though there are some letters that go way beyond simple mash notes, more explanatory and questioning about the subject. Why does it drive us, where does it lead, why does it make us act so dumb.

A few of the letters are about denial, with religion or sheer lack of interest the reason. A few are about first steps. The pieces range in length from paragraph to a whole lot of pages, especially Charles Dickens. Many of the writers are familiar writers in the field, a few are surprising to see here.

Margaret Mead's letter to her sister is a standout, and very forward in her thinking and of the times. Dian Fossey is just funny. Mae West, yes the Mae West in a letter to Dr. Kinsey about his sex studies is surprising in her candor and wisdom. I guess it should not be surprising to see someone who was out-front about her love life be so introspective and wise about what she truly believes, but it was surprising. A very different kind of collection, not quite a pillow book, not quite a formal study, but more of literary overview.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first hardbound “Letters of Note” spent a year on the coffee table, allowing visitors to peruse it. This isn’t that book.

It’s a small format and paperback and adults-only content.

Something in the book is likely to make most readers discomfited. It's probably why Goodreads has this book rated even lower than Usher's book on cats. But we read to learn things and gain perspective and Usher’s selection of letters does that.

Perhaps you’ll find the lovers’ prose interesting; perhaps it will be composer Percy Grainger’s BDSM obsession; perhaps it will be an English author relating his first homosexual experience.

Actress and playwright Mae West’s letter to Alfred Kinsey after the publication of his first two volumes of the Kinsey Reports is enlightening. Margaret Mead’s counsel to her sister after Elizabeth’s first sexual experience is touching.

And several of the letters are funny.

You might even find yourself comparing passionate letters that you’ve written to those in the collection.

[theirishbooklover]

Insightful, Non-fiction, Historical.

More often than not, I tend to go for audiobooks that are quite short. Like this one, they tend to be ones that I can listen to one sitting or day. I borrowed this one on Borrowbox.

In all honesty, I didn't pay much attention to this book when I borrowed it. The title intrigued me. This is definitely an adult only audiobook. It is a very interesting in-depth look at some very famous people.

It is nice to know physical letters are still important to people. I hadn't heard of the letters series so I look forward to listening/reading others books in the series.

[Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this!! An amazingly selected collection of letters, all so different from each other! Loved reading the intimate experiences of influential figures.
My favourites were 01 “an instrument of joy”, 03 “you the pious, the moral, the respectable”, 09 “do not think I rejoice in being sexless” 15, “there are no nice customers” 22, “at length the waves grew more terrific” 26, “I need to relieve my sexuality physically somehow” and 27, “married love”.
Can’t wait to read more from this series! (thank you to calliope for letting me borrow it!)

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Borrowed this as an audio book from the library and loved it so much that I bought a physical copy for myself. Such a gorgeous mix of all types of letters and people. Tow of my favourites are from prostitutes that talk about their clients, especially one that is directed to Charles dickens. Would make a great coffee book to dip in and out of or as a present

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was quite good, but didn't particularly move me.

[Melissa dixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

what a good idea to publish letters. The uninteresting ones you can skip. My fave is Don 1968, very funny!

[Hallee · Rating 3 out of 5]

some of those letters were...something else

[Faloni © · Rating 5 out of 5]

🍆 💦 people act different when they get around certain people. that's dead
i'm gonna be me 24/7 365

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was overall a really lovely collection. A couple oddball letters, but there was sexuality and gender diversity, though it was pretty Western-focused.

A few people be wildin' though 👀

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

14 Meh! I think the title of the book is more lurid than the contents. Some surprising rather than shocking letters. Recommended to the more erudite of the normal crew.

[Fală Victor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Revigorant?!
Pfaaai, strașnic! 💛

[Darareads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoyable, I'm looking forward to reading more in the series.

[Jasmine Ringer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Will forever think about that boiled egg letter. Unfortunately.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some interesting, some funny ones too. Good collection 😊

[Emma Durand · Rating 3 out of 5]

The “Letters of Note: Space” was better

[Kadar Szonja · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5
Dayton Trumbo's letter was useless + the depiciton of his pedofiliac predilection at the end of the letter was just disgusting, and not in a trangresive way.