Lust in Translation

Pun on that awful Bill Murray movie, Pamela Druckerman's book, Lust in Translation - The Rules of Infidelity from Toyko to Tennessee, is less than mediocre. Druckerman is a former Wall Street Journal writer so if this were bonds, I'd rate it B-.

Without any training in psychology or counseling, she travels the globe attempting to rank the nations from least to most faithful to monogamy -- this as she approaches her first marriage. She is not looking from common traits (or flaws) but wants to compile the effects of various religions, economics and culture on as causes or deterrents to adultery. The behaviors she depicts in Moscow and South Africa lead one to conclude that they would not want to be married there, let alone live in such hotbeds of infidelity. In the former, an increase of wealth spurs cheating; in the latter, lack of any opportunity to make money urges both sexes to get any kind of pleasure whenever possible, and at a huge risk to contracting AIDS.

Her portrait of Japanese marriage is so unappetizing that it's a wonder people start a family. The tradition of Geishas was deteriorated to sex clubs where men go to play. Things are similar in China except there a newly rich class at least can afford to set up a second family in a neighboring town. Druckerman's final observation, I think much to her comfort, is that Americans and the French are way down in the lust poll but for different reasons: in the USA, Puritanism has evolved into a sort of marriage cult where one's spouse equates to the sole person who can fulfill own's pursuit of happiness; in France, the tradition of "five to seven" (PM) still holds some sway.

And perhaps, it is this theory of structuring time, that she leaves least explored. She hints about American women from the 50s and 60s as having more chunks for free time in which to engage in finding a lover as contrasted with overscheduled hours now. She also mentions that there is a notable demarcation in the progress of a relationship when it moves into actually spending the night sleeping with one's lover. But she never explores what do lovers do with the rest of the day when they awaken. Is that those long day light hours that turn lust into obligations? How erotic do partners remain when they rake the lawn together, take each other to the dentist or go to the laundromat? Given those mundane realities, the scales of one's life need to be balanced with some passionate arousal. Druckerman reaches no conclusion of how far one can or should look for such fulfillment.