The Unraveling
The Unraveling recounts the adventures that befall three Earthlings when they travel to a culture that has been steeping for thousands of years in a broth of sex, pleasure and connection—they are bonobos to our culture’s chimpanzees.
A deeply original mash-up of moods and genres, The Unraveling is comical and cartoonish, thoughtful and provocative, droll and satirical, visionary and inspiring, elegantly crafted and written, and bawdy as all get-out. Welcome to Erotopia, where the clergy are sex priests and priestesses and their talents are literally miraculous.
The three Earthlings have a dual mission. They are emissaries traveling to a distant galaxy to make contact with the only other humanoid species in the universe, and they are also entrepreneurs, intent on making a fortune by creating an X-rated reality show that features them having sex with hot extra-terrestrials. But the eronauts have liabilities. They are toting Earth culture with them and are notably unskilled at relationship, communication, conflict resolution, and loving well. These deficits are magnified in the wisdom culture of Erotopia, which is perfectly artful in these areas. This clash of cultures and capacities is the fulcrum on which The Unraveling hinges. Will the Earthlings learn from Erotopia? Will they do the culture in?
What else is The Unraveling? It is a deeply considered meditation about some of the most critical issues of our time, including boundaries, consent, and the nature of manhood and womanhood in our culture.
It is a provocative portrait of cultural and individual choices that would steer us toward wisdom and happiness if implemented here. (Things like Erotopians’ nuanced understanding of boundaries and consent, and their deep awareness of the difference between things that happen and the stories we impose on those events.)
It is a manifesto for sex-positivity.
It is Volume One of a grand epic trilogy—The Erotopian Chronicles.
“A sexy, droll page-turner that will make you think as well as laugh. A wise and provocative Utopian romp.”
-Eric Booth, author, Tending the Perennials: The Art and Spirit of a Personal Religion
“Strap yourself in for one wild ride to Erotopia. Funny, sexy, beautifully written and compelling—a thinking man and woman’s erotic journey like no other. Barbarella meets Galaxy Quest on steroids!”
-Marlene Adelstein, USA Today bestselling author of Sophie Last Seen
“In a time when we’re constantly bombarded with bad news about sex from the latest #MeToo scandal to the panic over human trafficking to the perils of porn addiction, it’s refreshing to visit a world where there’s not only abundant good news about sex, sex itself is the source of that good news. In his imaginative novel The Unraveling, author and well-known sex-positivity advocate Carl Frankel takes us to just such a place – the planet Erotopia (a title inspired by Ernest Callenbach’s 1975 book Ecotopia) where consensual sex in a vast profusion of expressions is not only celebrated but forms the basis of a peaceful and prosperous society. Erotopia’s inhabitants have perfected sexuality as both an art and a science and though their world is not entirely free of conflicts and contradictions, as none could be, it is as close to paradise as any humanoid life form could hope to discover. Vividly written, peopled with a fascinating diversity of characters human and otherwise, and delightfully optimistic, The Unraveling is a thoughtful and entertaining take on a world that’s chosen the power of pleasure over the pleasure of power.”
-Ernest Greene, author, The Master of O
Click here for an excerpt!
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