9 and a Half Weeks: A Memoir of a Love Affair by Elizabeth McNeill

  I picked this one up because it was free and short.   I saw the movie with Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke many years ago - ( he was fabulous).  There are two things that really strike me about this book - 1. the fact that it is a real story and 2. the cool detachment with which it is both written and experienced.

Elizabeth McNeill was a powerful executive when she began her love affair with the man - we never know his name.    It starts off with "May I blindfold you?" and quickly expands from there.   Her life is a story of contrasts - the tight, powerful control that she has during the day and the complete abdication of control during her evening and weekend hours.  One example that comes to mind is allowing herself to be handcuffed to the table leg while the man eats dinner and feeds her scraps like a dog.   I undrstand how the complete lack of control could possibly be exhilarating but the lengths that some people go is surprising.

This book was well written and interesting.  Not shocking, not pornographic, just the facts of her life for 9 and a half weeks.