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Christopher Turner
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Adventures in the Orgasmatron: How the Sexual Revolution Came to America Kindle Edition

by Christopher Turner (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.0 out of 5 stars 27 ratings

One of The Economist's 2011 Books of the Year
A Boston Globe Best Nonfiction Book of 2011

Well before the 1960s, a sexual revolution was under way in America, led by expatriated European thinkers who saw a vast country ripe for liberation. In Adventures in the Orgasmatron, Christopher Turner tells the revolution's story—an illuminating, thrilling, often bizarre story of sex and science, ecstasy and repression.

Central to the narrative is the orgone box—a tall, slender construction of wood, metal, and steel wool. A person who sat in the box, it was thought, could elevate his or her "orgastic potential." The box was the invention of Wilhelm Reich, an outrider psychoanalyst who faced a federal ban on the orgone box, an FBI investigation, a fraught encounter with Einstein, and bouts of paranoia.

In Turner's vivid account, Reich's efforts anticipated those of Alfred Kinsey, Herbert Marcuse, and other prominent thinkers—efforts that brought about a transformation of Western views of sexuality in ways even the thinkers themselves could not have imagined.

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  1. Print length
    545 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Farrar, Straus and Giroux
  4. Publication date
    June 7, 2011
  5. File size
    4.3 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
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  8. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Anyone who has seen Woody Allen's Sleeper will remember the Orgasmatron. In fact, this futuristic parody was based largely on the work of Wilhelm Reich, who coined the slogan "sexual revolution" in the 1930s. A pupil of Freud's who believed sexual and political revolution had to go hand in hand, Reich was an often-misunderstood genius for good reason. He invented the orgone energy accumulator, a phone booth–size cupboard intended to bestow sexual emancipation on its users. When his writings delved into even greater unconventional beliefs, like flying saucers, credibility was further strained. Other gurus figure in London journalist Turner's first book. What is lacking in prose excitement and humor over the sheer nuttiness of much of Reich's work is made up for by the well-described backdrop of Vienna and Berlin as hotbeds of culture, anti-Semitism, and insight into the psyche. Reich sailed from Austria to the U.S. in 1939, and, like many leftist European intellectuals, came under the FBI's scrutiny, which was his downfall. As much of a screwball as Reich was, he opened a Pandora's box for future sexologists like Fritz Perls at Esalen. As Turner shows, Reich was a seminal figure. 8 pages of b&w photos. (June)

Review

“How [Reich] went from being one of the inspirational figures of the psychoanalytic movement, as a clinician, a teacher and a writer, to being a cult figure on the margins of 1960s America is an extraordinary story, and Turner tells it with subtlety and panache. Turner has interviewed many people who knew Reich well, and he casts his net wide, setting Reich’s quirks and crimes in their historical context so that a portrait of the man emerges rather than a diagnosis.” —Adam Phillips, The London Review of Books

“ Very amusing and intelligent . . . This book will change the way in which we employ that increasingly lazy phrase ‘thinking outside the box.’” —Christopher Hitchens, The New York Times Book Review

“Christopher Turner’s smart, thorough, wholly engaging book takes the reader on a tragicomic adventure of the history of an idea that became an object: Wilhelm Reich’s orgone box. What began in Vienna with Sigmund Freud’s belief that the sexually repressive mores of society can make people sick evolved into a utopian, quasi-scientific fantasy that spread through Europe as fascism rose and eventually crossed the ocean to the United States, where it would play a crucial role in what is now called the sexual revolution. Turner’s measured account, bolstered by interviews with various characters close to the action, is a study in charisma, belief, and mental contagions that infected an entire culture, and which are still with us today.” —Siri Hustvedt, author of The Summer Without Men

“Turner has created a masterful synthesis of social history, psychosexual theory, obsession, and farce. The narrative is a madcap parade: Freud and Einstein, Leon Trotsky and Mabel Dodge, the Red Scare and UFOs, Ginsberg and Burroughs, Bellow and Mailer, Dwight MacDonald and James Baldwin, Woody Allen and Kurt Cobain—and Wilhelm Reich’s quixotic hunt for the ideal orgasm.” —David Friend, Creative Development Editor at Vanity Fair, and author of Watching the World Change

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B005LVO9XM
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Farrar, Straus and Giroux (June 7, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 7, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4.3 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 545 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 out of 5 stars 27 ratings

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Christopher Turner

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4 out of 5 stars
27 global ratings

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Customers find the book informative, with one describing it as an enormous detailed study. They praise its readability, with one customer noting they were glad to read to the last page.

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4 customers mention "Information quality"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book informative, with one customer describing it as an enormous detailed study.

"...family members with illuminating results, but also to locate new documentary material, most notably the revealing papers of Aurora Karrer, Reich's..." Read more

"...This is an enormously detailed study of Reich's life and times, from his entry into Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic circle in Vienna to his sorry..." Read more

"...It has everything you want in a fun, informative read." Read more

"Informative but quite annoying" Read more

3 customers mention "Readability"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book readable and terrific, with one mentioning they were glad to read to the last page.

"...It's a big fat book, but such a page turner that I was glad to read to the last page...." Read more

"...Just the same, it's a terrific book - Reich is explored more thoroughly than ever, and his schizophrenia and paranoia are clearly displayed...." Read more

"This book was such a fun read. I kept thinking, wait, this real? It has everything you want in a fun, informative read." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • w. c. manson
    5.0 out of 5 stars Reich re-examined--within the context of political and cultural history
    Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2021
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    The previous standard of scholarship for the study of Reich was Myron Sharaf's "Fury on Earth" (1983). Here, with his considerable skills as journalist and writer, Christopher Turner throws new light on Reich's tortured personality--within a well-elucidated backdrop of mid-20th century cultural history. As a newly arrived exile from European fascism, Reich was anxious for acceptance, recognition and fame in his new American milieu. (He no doubt envied the worshipping press coverage, as well as prestigious Princeton research appointment, enjoyed by Einstein.) With the immediate sea-change of sexual mores in the postwar period--the last vestiges of guilt-ridden puritanism giving way to Kinsey et al.--Reich insisted that perfect sexual well-being was the prerequisite of mental (and even physical) health. Unlike previous authors, Turner devotes substantial space to evaluating Reich's claims about his "orgone energy accumulator"--claims that would end in FDA investigation and Reich's imprisonment. Turner was able, not only to interview Reich's surviving family members with illuminating results, but also to locate new documentary material, most notably the revealing papers of Aurora Karrer, Reich's final female companion. Turner also tracked down several persons who, as children, were forced to undergo hands-on "orgonomic therapy" by Reich's associates. (Such therapy, in their accounts, seemed in some cases sadistic and/or sexually abusive.) Turner even tried out, and describes, his sessions with a couple of veteran Reichian therapists. Finally, Turner's dispassionate approach leads the reader to see Reich for what he was: a paranoid narcissist who succumbed to fantasies of messianic martydom--imprisoned by his own compensatory grandiosity.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Dr A
    5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant book by a brilliant author
    Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2014
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    The book is a tour de force of the cultural history of the first half of the 20th century. In a taut narrative, enlivened by anecdotes, everyone - well, almost everyone - who mattered makes an appearance. Freud, Stalin, Hitler, Saul Bellow and a galaxy of luminaries. You get a strong sense of the flow of the century. A great story of Reich's childhood tragedy that he never could overcome.

    It's a big fat book, but such a page turner that I was glad to read to the last page. What Reich was planning to do for the rest of his life just prior to his death in a federal prison came as a heart-warming surprise.

    The author is a journalist, not a psychiatrist, but he 'gets' what happened in psychiatry better than many of my professional colleagues. This is his first book, and judging from his photo, he is a young man. I am sure he has more books in him - and I look forward to buying his next one.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Geoffrey R. Balme
    4.0 out of 5 stars Biography of Wilhelm Reich and some history of western sexuality
    Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2012
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    The book is a little misleadingly titled, you might think the title would have included the name of the major figure who this book is very entertaining a biography of. Just the same, it's a terrific book - Reich is explored more thoroughly than ever, and his schizophrenia and paranoia are clearly displayed. Reich is disturbingly unencumbered by the lack of positive review from scientific peers - he goes right on discovering and claiming outrageous uses for orgone energy, and various other of his "life force discoveries". Even when, and perhaps in spite of the fact that there is no corroborating scientific support for it.

    Einstein's polite dismissal of the box leads only to Reich's assurance that he's being targeted unfairly by agents of his demise. Sadly, such agents do exist in the form of the bumbling FDA, and American xenophobia of first, Jews, then Germans, then commies all wrapped and warped over the ensuing decades.

    Reich sees himself as a Galileo or even more clearly as a tortured Christ figure.

    Western attitudes about sexuality and paramor are expressed along the way, Kinsey's work, as well as the work of some other amazing social revolutionaries (not all of them would suit our hopes the way Huge Hefner does!) are sprinkled throughout. Lots to think about, and also to roll-eyes at.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Malcolm J. Brenner
    5.0 out of 5 stars At last, the truth about Reich
    Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2011
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    As a survivor myself of the Reichian quasi-cult, I am glad Christopher Turner has exposed Reich for the pathetic, self-deluded crackpot he was. This is an enormously detailed study of Reich's life and times, from his entry into Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic circle in Vienna to his sorry last days in a federal penitentiary, convicted of shipping quack medical devices - his "orgone accumulator," nothing more than a man-sized electrical capacitor - across state lines. In between, Reich left a trail of broken professional relationships and abused women as he became increasingly more deluded about his own greatness. Turner draws on a wide variety of sources, including Reich's own writings and interviews with people who knew him, to paint a picture full of broad strokes and fine detail. Anyone interested in an authoritative and, I believe, fair portrayal of Reich's life and work should read this book.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • John Wilder
    2.0 out of 5 stars Fiction disguised as history
    Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2013
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    I read Turner's book along with Demeo's IN DEFENSE OF WILHELM REICH, as, to improve perspective, I like to get at least two differing views of the same subject. From what I've read, Turner is a modern journalist, twisting sketchy facts to fit his easy-to-read, but odd biographical fiction, while Demeo is an old-fashioned scientist who builds his thesis, fully on substantial, verifiable facts. Compare Turner's odd views on Kinsey and Reich to Demeo's more in-depth views for a good example.

    I gave Turner's book two stars instead of none, or one, because I do like that Turner's efforts prove that Reich's work, even Turner's gross distortions of it, can gather so much attention in today's world, more than 50 years after Reich died in prison with his books and journals burned to ashes in government bonfires by Turner's intellectual ancestors.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • dghawk
    5.0 out of 5 stars This book was recommended to me for a related writing project and thought ...
    Reviewed in Canada on November 13, 2016
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    This book was recommended to me for a related writing project and thought I would only read a couple of chapters. However, I ended up reading the whole thing and really enjoyed it.
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  • leonardo E.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Eccellente
    Reviewed in Italy on September 20, 2021
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    Un libro molto piacevole da leggere. Estremamente chiaro, ottimamente documentato, l'autore ha anche raccolto informazioni aggiuntive intervistando conoscenti di Reich. Mi ha sorpreso la chiarezza relativa al dibattito teorico sulla sessualità, tenuto conto che l'autore non è uno studioso ma solo un giornalista. Inoltre Turner ha anche la capacità di allargare la prospettiva agli aspetti storici, culturali, sociali che hanno fatto da sfondo e influenzato l'operato di Reich. Assolutamente consigliato.
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