The Virgins

The Virgins
Author: Pamela Erens
Publisher: Tin House Books
Total Pages: 287
Release: 2013-08-06
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1935639625

It’s 1979, and Aviva Rossner and Seung Jung are notorious at Auburn Academy. They’re an unlikely pair at an elite East Coast boarding school (she’s Jewish; he’s Korean American) and hardly shy when it comes to their sexuality. Aviva is a formerly bookish girl looking for liberation from an unhappy childhood; Seung is an enthusiastic dabbler in drugs and a covert rebel against his demanding immigrant parents. In the minds of their titillated classmates—particularly that of Bruce Bennett-Jones—the couple lives in a realm of pure, indulgent pleasure. But, as is often the case, their fabled relationship is more complicated than it seems: despite their lust and urgency, their virginity remains intact, and as they struggle to understand each other, the relationship spirals into disaster. The Virgins is the story of Aviva and Seung’s descent into confusion and shame, as re-imagined in richly detailed episodes by their classmate Bruce, a once-embittered voyeur turned repentant narrator. With unflinching honesty and breathtaking prose, Pamela Erens brings a fresh voice to the tradition of the great boarding school novel.

Sexual Ethics and Islam

Sexual Ethics and Islam
Author: Kecia Ali
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2016-01-07
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1780748531

Whether exploring the thorny issues of wives’ sexual duties, divorce, homosexuality, or sex outside marriage, discussions of sexual ethics and Islam often spark heated conflict rather than reasoned argument. In this updated and expanded edition of her ground-breaking work, feminist Muslim scholar Dr Kecia Ali asks how one can determine what makes sex lawful and ethical in the sight of God. Drawing on both revealed and interpretative Muslim texts, Ali critiques medieval and contemporary commentators alike to produce a balanced and comprehensive study of a subject both sensitive and urgent, making this an invaluable resource for students, scholars, and interested readers.

Virgins

Virgins
Author: Anke Bernau
Publisher:
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2008
Genre: Virginity
ISBN:

Witty and thought-provoking, 'Virgins' reveals virginity's changing cultural significance throughout its long history, and its enduring power in contemporary society.

No Truth Without Beauty

No Truth Without Beauty
Author: Leena El-Ali
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2021-12-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 3030835820

In this comprehensive open access book, written for readers from any or no religious background, Leena El-Ali does something remarkable. Never before has anyone taken on every last claim relating to Islam and women and countered it not just with Qur’anic evidence to the contrary, but with easy-to-use tools available to all. How can a woman’s testimony be worth half of a man’s? How can men divorce their wives unilaterally by uttering three words? And what’s with the obsession with virgins in Paradise? Find the chapter on any of the seventeen topics in this book, and you will quickly learn a) where the myth came from and b) how to bust it. The methodology pursued is simple. First, the Qur’an is given priority over all other literary or “scriptural” sources. Second, the meaning of its verses in the original Arabic is highlighted, in contrast to English translations and/or widespread misunderstanding or misinterpretation.

Adult Virgins Anonymous

Adult Virgins Anonymous
Author: NICOLE. BURSTEIN
Publisher: Coronet
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2021-01-21
Genre:
ISBN: 9781529336160

Are you still a virgin? Want to talk about it in a safe space? Meetings every other Tuesday. You're not alone. Kate Mundy's life is not going to plan. Nearing thirty, she's been made redundant from her job, her oldest friends have quietly left her behind, and she can barely admit her biggest secret: she's never even been on a date, let alone taken her underwear off with a member of the opposite sex. Freddie Weir has spent most of his twenties struggling severe OCD and anxiety, and now his only social interactions consist of comic book signings and fending off intrusive questions from his weird flatmate Damian. There's no way Freddie could ever ask a girl out and now he's wondering if this is the way it might be forever. When Freddie and Kate meet at a self-help group for adult virgins, they think they might just be able to help each other out so they can both get on with finding their real romantic destinies. But might these two have more in common than just their lack of experience?

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

The Parable of the Ten Virgins
Author: Thomas Shepard
Publisher: Ravenio Books
Total Pages: 921
Release: 1853
Genre: Religion
ISBN:

Thomas Shepard (1605-1649) was a New England Puritan minister. Forbidden to preach in England, he emigrated to Massachusetts in 1635. The most eloquent measure of his classic The Parable of the Ten Virgins is that there is a scarcely a page in The Religious Affections where Jonathan Edwards does not reference Shepard's work.

Virgins? What Virgins?

Virgins? What Virgins?
Author: Ibn Warraq
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Total Pages: 544
Release: 2010-04-27
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1616143126

In this wide-ranging collection of insightful, controversial, and often-witty essays, the renowned author of Why I Am Not a Muslim has created a representative selection of his best work on the Koran and various problems posed by the interaction of Islam with the West. The title of the collection comes from an article that originally appeared in the London Guardian on recent textual studies of the Koran. This research suggests that, contrary to a longstanding Muslim belief about the afterlife, a harem of beautiful virgins may not be waiting for the faithful male departed in heaven. For the many readers of his books who have wondered about his background, the author begins with a charming personal sketch about his upbringing in England and his unabashed Anglophilia. A section on Koranic criticism includes excerpts from two of his books, What the Koran Really Says and Which Koran? No stranger to controversy and polemics, the author devotes two sections to articles that consider the totalitarian nature of contemporary political Islam and explore the potential for an Islamic Reformation comparable to the Protestant Reformation in the West. The concluding section is composed of Ibn Warraq''s journalism, including a critique of reputed Muslim reformer Tariq Ramadan, a defense of Western culture ("Why the West Is Best)," an article about the Danish cartoons that provoked widespread Muslim outrage, and even a commentary on heavy metal music in a Muslim setting. This thoughtful, engaging collection on diverse topics will interest both longtime readers of Ibn Warraq and those new to his work.

72 Virgins

72 Virgins
Author: Avi Perry
Publisher: Gradient Pub
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2009
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780615280516

A suspense-thriller about a nightmare scenario-a countdown to a Mumbai-style attack on U.S. soil, where the FBI, the Israeli Mossad, the US-based Iranian clandestine terror network, and the Islamic Jihad fraternity, all engaged in a timeless conflict, which plays out to a crescendo that comes to a head before the dramatic conclusion. The story offers an ample dose of realism, a cast of intense characters who engage in love, lust, and violence. It portrays the Jihad culture with its rationale and the volcano that breeds an irrational obsession with death. Moreover, it builds on the Jihadists' motivation for targeting so many innocents and exploiting the victims' massacre as a stepping-stone to their dream of eternal paradise next to Allah's throne. The real question is not whether Jihad terrorists' plots will ever cease to emerge-there is no chance of that. The question the book seeks to answer is, will the next one be stopped before it's too late?