Intriguing, and occasionally unsettling, In Defense of Sin is a refreshingly frank exploration of some real facts of life. Portmann gathers an on-target collection of great writers on transgressions large and small. Read about defenses for promiscuity, greed, deceit, gossip, lust, breaking the golden rule, and more--and use this unusual guide to decide for yourself if sin has a place in our contemporary, and virtually unshockable, society. Provocative and illuminating, this book may change how you think about sin, morality, and what's right. Contributors include Aaron Ben-Ze'ev, Anthony Ellis, Jane English, Ludwig Feuerbach, Sigmund Freud, Bernard Mandeville, Jerome Neu, Friedrich Nietzsche, David Novitz, Joyce Carol Oates, David A.J. Richards, Seneca, Jonathan Swift, Richard Wasserstrom, and Oscar Wilde. “Just what we frail and fallen mortals need--a book defending lust, gossip, deceit, and prostitution, and a book that is finally more moral than William J. Bennett's The Book of Virtues .” ― Stanley Fish, author of There's No Such Things as Free Speech John Portmann is the author of When Bad Things Happen to Other Peopl e and the editor of In Defense of Sin . A self-described liberal Catholic, Portmann lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. Used Book in Good Condition