What a fantastic read. Let me be clear about one thing, his book is not for you if you are put off by meaningful but intense discussions of sex and sexuality, but I found it to be a fantastic memoir. It also gave me some insights into some of Shakespeare's most interesting and difficult characters. Her writing is amazing and I found the pages flying by. Bravo! ( )

I would give this book more than five stars if I could.

First of all, the writing is excellent. Ms. Keenan's voice is clear and truthful and unaffected, which is particularly admirable given the fact that she is sharing thoughts and experiences that do not often get shared in public -- and sometimes not even admitted to one's self in private.

There are three threads to this book. The first is the coming of age story of a smart, adventurous young woman from a troubled home: dropping out of high school to move to Spain, falling in love, discovering herself, finding out about the less-admirable aspects of her beloved, returning to the United States to attend Stanford, her life after graduation, and her developing relationship with the man she ends up marrying. If that had been all she'd written about, this still would have been interesting book.

But Kennan goes another step and tells her story through the lense of her fetish as a spanking 'bottom' (someone who receives the blows rather than gives them). She writes of her early confusion and shame, and the frightening-but-glorious experience of finding someone to love her who can provide the stimulation she has always craved but never known -- and the consequences for that and future relationships.

For those of you who are not sure whether you want to read a book about "such things," I encourage you to give it a try, because her descriptions of her experiences are never pornographic. They are very, very real and vulnerable and convey the complex layers of the experience: emotional, psychological, and physical.

Finally, there is the Shakespeare thread. The first chapter opens with Keenan watching, in her imagination, a scene between Demetrius and Helena from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and realizing, suddenly, that the emotional impact of the scene is very, very different if you see it through the lense of a kinky relationship. As the book progresses, each chapter of her own life is refracted through a different play, and her experiences give her new insights into the old stories and characters. She does this not in a purely subjective, personal way, but through educated readings of the texts, including understanding of how Shakespeare's poetry works. Her passion for the Bard is every bit as intense as her passion for being spanked.

The most powerful chapter for me was the one in which she looks at the textual basis for a reading of "King Lear" which proposes that Lear has molested his daughters, while simultaneously exploring the thorny question of how much -- or little -- her spanking fetish was rooted in her mother's emotional and sometimes physical abuse of her.

As a kinky woman, Keenan's relationship with both her own kinky nature and her partners came across as authentic and lucid. As someone who has studied Shakespeare in a college classroom, as an actress, and as a director, I was impressed and enlightened by her interpretations of the plays. As a writer, I envied her highly intelligent yet unpretentious style.

This is a terrific book and I hope she writes others, because I will be keeping an eye out for her name.

September 2017 -- Re-read because it's the book-of-the-month for the Seattle Kinky Book Club for this week. Still as good as I remembered it, and I'm looking forward to discussing it with others. ( )

As both a kinky person and an English major, I was very excited about a book combining kink with literary criticism. Finding links between the two was done well, and it was interesting to hear about the writer's history with her kink. The parts about her relationships that weren't related to her sexuality bored me, and the imaginary conversations with Shakespearean characters device started to feel forced by the end, but for the most part I enjoyed this book and think it would do a good job giving non-kinky people some insight into how it can work. ( )

I wanted to like this book, since I'm a fan of both things mentioned in the title. On the whole, too pop for me. I came looking for revealing examinations of sexuality in Shakespeare, but on the whole, failed to find any. If you enjoy hearing about someone's kinky evolution, you might enjoy this, but if you're looking for insight into Shakespeare, this book may leave you ... frustrated. ( )

This sits on the line between pop criticism of sexuality in Shakespeare's work and a sexual memoir. I enjoyed it, though I do admit to skimming Shakespeare stuff from plays I haven't yet read. Kudos to the author for being honest about her sexuality, kink, and relationship history. Her memory and retention of plays, characters, and plots is amazing to me, I get everything confused. Ms. Keenan is an excellent writer, and she weaves a very readable tale. 3.5/5 stars. I'm interested in anything else she may have written! ( )