Published in 1972, The Joy of Sex, by Alex Comfort (1920–2000), became the first mass-market book to treat sexuality in a frank and lighthearted way, complete with illustrations designed to help people understand and enjoy intimate matters that had often been shrouded in secrecy. Its author was a British doctor, poet-novelist, and social activist who researched and wrote the book, though he is described as its editor. The Joy of Sex was published at a time when U.S. society was loosening many of the rigid, puritanical attitudes that had prevented open discussions about sex. Although some critics were unhappy at the book's condescending treatment of women and homosexuals, Comfort's book is today regarded as an important breakthrough in the "sexual revolution" of the period.

The full title of the book, published by Crown, was The Joy of Sex: A Gourmet Guide to Lovemaking...