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Vice, vice baby
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Who wants vice?
Peter Sagal hopes enough people do to goose sales of his fun new book, “The Book of Vice: Very Naughty Things and How to Do Them.” It’s brand spankin’ new this week from HarperCollins, and if you are a fan of the witty NPR radio show “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me,” yes, it is that Peter Sagal, the show’s host.
Before he goes to a porn video shoot or dabbles in online gambling (all for research, of course), Sagal explains the difference between vice and sin. “Sins are things you do that are wrong in and of themselves, whether or not you enjoy them. They are committed, for the most part, out of necessity or compulsion,” he writes. “They include theft, lying, hitting people, and being mean to your little sister.”
Vice, on the other hand, you indulge in for the pleasure it gives you, he states. Some activities can be both (drinking, gambling), but there needs to be an element of getting away with something, and of sybaritic satisfaction, to qualify as a vice.
Definitions dispensed with, Sagal goes off in search of vice, which isn’t a tough order in today’s culture. He visits a swinger’s club in a normal suburban home, with his wife, for an up-close-and-personal account that makes you want to wipe down your seat cushions, indulges in over-the-top gluttony at an expensive restaurant, hangs with pit bosses in Vegas. He’s mainly a reporter and observer more than a participant in all this vice; he is also still married when the book ends.
I don’t expect anyone to have read the book yet since it’s just out, but surely you can sound off:
What’s your favorite vice?
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: News and Reviews
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By Jen
October 17, 2007 8:15 AM | Link to this
Two things: reading fiction and drinking vodka, often together.
By ron
October 17, 2007 8:21 AM | Link to this
By Atlanta Pearl Girl
October 17, 2007 9:14 AM | Link to this
I always thought swingers were dancers. Boy was I surprised to find out the truth ::::::wrinkling nose::::
Atlanta Pearl Girl
P.S…..my vice? Cake batter - no eggs of course.
By Shannon, M.Div.
October 17, 2007 10:25 AM | Link to this
This concept for writing has actually been tried before—read Ecclesiastes. ;)