Dawn Eden Finds Fulfillment by Keeping Her Clothes On (Review of "Thrill of the Chaste")

Washington Examiner ^ | 12/13/2006 | Heather Wilhelm

[Pyro7480]

WASHINGTON - Dawn Eden is no shrinking violet. “I’ve got just a tad of the exhibitionist in me,” the former rock journalist turned Catholic convert recently told the National Review Online — and with the launch of her new book, “The Thrill of the Chaste,” Eden does nothing short of baring her soul.

“The Thrill of the Chaste” translates Eden’s heart-on-her-sleeve candor into an intimate confessional where nothing is off the table: private sexual fantasies, self-gratification, personal insecurities, various cringe-worthy moments (one involves dressing up like Cher, but not as a prank) and — get ready — “desperately longing for a man from the depths of your loins.”

Eden’s eyebrow-raising candor, however, also translates into an important book that chronicles the havoc casual sex can wreak on women’s psyches and souls. “The Thrill of the Chaste” recounts Eden’s journey from promiscuity to chastity. “In a vicious cycle,” she writes, “single women feel lonely because they are not loved, so they have casual sex with men who do not love them. That was my life.”

No-strings-attached sex, Eden argues, isn’t “empowering,” but enslaving. Many women, whether they would admit the reason for it or not, have witnessed this firsthand....

Hopefully, Eden’s message will make it beyond preaching to the choir. Already, Radar reporter Peter Hyman has flirted with Eden in type (and personally offered to help break her vow of chastity). The New York Times, lo and behold, covered the book in a balanced, if tepid, review. Even the merciless gossip Web site Gawker, which has christened Eden “everyone’s second-favorite scary conservative Catholic after Mel Gibson,” just can’t seem to stop posting about her....

[little jeremiah]

Nice quote.

[juliej]

Dawn is a recovering somethingorother and they go from one extreme to the next. A man who really loves a woman and is deeply attracted to her will remain only a friend if the relationship is never consummated. At least in this day and age. Dawn is very naive about men. She should see the movie “When Harry Met Sally”.