The Sinner's Grand Tour

March 14, 2011
Family in tow, Perrottet (Pagan Holiday) explores the vice palaces of earlier eras, from Scottish sex clubs to the buried brothels of Pompeii and the marquis de Sade's castle in Provence. Perrottet also tries to track down various infamous objects, including the lost sex chair of King Edward VII and a hidden room in the Vatican that contains legendary erotic paintings by Raphael. Along the way, Perrottet provides history, scenic descriptions, and a narrative of his attempt to keep two small children happy as they're dragged across Europe. The narrative works best as a scattershot pop history of the sexual antics of (mostly) wealthy Europeans over the centuries. There are fascinating anecdotes about everything from chastity belts to Mary Shelley's nipples. However, as a contemporary travelogue, the book falls short. Perrottet tries to drum up enthusiasm for his antiquarian encounters, but there's only so much excitement in describing a day in the stacks or a look at a few faded tiles of chubby nymphs.

April 1, 2011

A travel journalist's search for pornographic relics, subversive texts and sinful sites becomes the itinerary for his family's European vacation.

Victorian elites once sent their sons on the Grand Tour. These lengthy excursions allowed young men the opportunity for leisurely indulgence in the cornucopia of European cultural delights. Perrottet's quest for enlightenment heads in a more saucy direction. Having tackled similar bawdy topics in his previous books (Napoleon's Privates: 2,500 Years of History Unzipped, 2008, etc), the author was mesmerized by collection of sexual oddities housed in the British Museum, including ancient Roman phallic jewelry and amulets depicting athletic coital positions. With his family in tow, Perrottet began tracking down the "forbidden historical fruit" scattered across Europe. Starting their vacation along the gloomy Scottish coastline, the author visited the Beggar's Benison, a sex club founded in 1732. As his wife and sons longed for sunshine and swimming pools, the family slowly navigated toward sunnier locales with stops in Paris, the French countryside, Lake Geneva, Venice and the Vatican. They finally landed in Capri, where "[i]t was as if the soil itself were irrigated with sin. The brilliant light, the crystalline water, the languid heat, all cried out, carpe diem." Throughout, Perrottet humorously recounts his travails at tracking down the location of luxurious Belle Epoque brothels; his thrill at securing a spot with a secret tour of Casanova's prison cell; and his successful wrangling with Vatican authorities for a glimpse of Raphael's Bathroom of Love. In Lacoste, the author gently and persistently pestered Pierre Cardin, the owner of the Marquis de Sade's home, into allowing him a visit into the infamous rake's dungeon. Perrottet layers his narrative with tantalizing historical research, funny family complications and slightly acerbic comments regarding contemporary Europeans.

A well-researched, amusing recollection of one family's offbeat holiday trek to the naughty nooks of Europe.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

April 15, 2011

Known for his explorations of historic salaciousness (The Naked Olympics: The True Story of the Ancient Games; Napoleon's Privates: 2,500 Years of History Unzipped), Perrottet here puts a new twist on the conventional grand European tour. Lewd locales and relics of yesteryear, historic dungeons, former brothels, and museums of erotica are on the itinerary. From the Castle of the Marquis de Sade and the pornographic art in the Vatican to the British Hellfire sex clubs of the 1700s, readers will be astonished at and either disgusted or titillated by the debauchery. This mix of quirky historic tales, similar to but less documented than the works of Jan Bondeson, with traditional travelog makes for an eye-opening, entertaining, and informative narrative. Dive in to learn the story of Casanova, rumors about Lord Byron, and detailed licentious accounts from one medieval town. No one is spared in these revelations, least of all the clergy. VERDICT This book is for anyone who loves the offbeat mixed with scandalous history. Though not for the prudish, it is a fun romp through some lesser-known history.--Sheila Kasperek, Mansfield Univ. of Pennsylvania Lib.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2011
Think of this as the flip side, or maybe the seamy side, of the Grand Tour, which was considered a vital rite of passage for young European men from the mid-1600s to the mid-1800s. Perrottet, whose previous books include Napoleons Privates (2008), takes us on a lively, hugely entertaining journey through the parts of Europe you wont find in most, shall we say, reputable historical guides: the British Museums Secretum, once a repository of some truly disreputable stuff; Scotlands Most Ancient and Puissant Order of the Beggars Benison and Maryland, which Perrottet describes as a self-abuse club; and the Parisian site of what was once the most successful brothel in all Europe. Perrottet devotes ample space, of course, to two of historys most famous sexual adventurers, Casanova and the Marquis de Sade. Like Bill Bryson, Perrottet has a wonderful knack for ferreting out the obscure, the offbeat, and the just plain weird (e.g., the fact that one of his forebears worked for de Sade as a personal assistant of some sort). A real eye-opener.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)