Sex Diaries

Polyamory is hardly a new cultural touchstone, and yet, its realities often remain hidden behind closed doors. What does the everyday life of someone with multiple partners actually look like? Who’s taking care of the kids? And who’s making breakfast?

In this candid, groundbreaking compilation of anonymous accounts, told by real people navigating sex and dating outside the bounds of traditional monogamy, Alyssa Shelasky pulls back the curtain. A 67-year-old woman keeps a collection of well-endowed lovers in various corners of the world; a restaurant owner is jolted back to life when she gets illicit messages from a married man; an artist attends an overwhelming sex party, only to find themselves feeling reinvigorated after they get to role play as a rock.

Some diarists are just beginning to question their relationship with monogamy; others have been polyamorous for a long-time. Some accounts are graphic and dishy, while others focus on the search for lasting connections that feel genuinely liberatory. Every single one is strikingly honest and authentic, inviting us to relish the types of stories we hear in secret—the desires and fantasies that get whispered about to trusted confidantes, or relegated to the pages of a diary.

Sex Diaries lets us peek inside those pages, offering a singular, panoramic view into the world of polyamory, and an unforgettable ode to love, lust, longing, and desire.