Overview

Naked at Lunch is one man's cracklingly witty, compellingly odd and oddly life-affirming journey into the subculture of nudism. Celebrated journalist Mark Haskell Smith meets, and indeed joins, those shucking off social conventions by shucking off their clothes - he hikes bareback in the Alps with a naked rambler's society, he buys baguettes in the buff in a French resort and he meets the marginally dressed mayor of a Spanish clothes-optional municipality. But this is not just a book of naked adventures and sun-ripened genitals. It is a study of 20th-century Western cultural and social mores; a record of radical history and politics practised by those made radical by their refusal to get dressed; a heartfelt celebration of the simple joys of being alive; and a full-blooded war cry for reclaiming pride in our bodies and rejecting those who would make us ashamed.

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9781782397151

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Reviews

A strangely compelling, riotously funny traipse through the world of nudism. Mark Haskell Smith is a worthy heir to the George Plimpton school of journalism. He's not there to mock; he's there to experience humanity in all its full-monty complexity. -- J. Maarten Troost, author of The Sex Lives of Cannibals Insightful, brave, and inspiring. With extraordinary honesty and humor, Haskell Smith faces down social and personal inhibitions to experience both a fascinating subculture and a moving personal transformation -- Jillian Lauren, author of the New York Times bestseller Some Girls A total joy... Even if you've never been nude in your life and have no plans to be in the future, this book will thrill you with its hilarious and outrageous stories and move you with its essential humanity -- Meghan Daum, author of The Unspeakable A knight in shining lotion... Haskell Smith can hit the David Sedaris humour sweet spot * Los Angeles Review of Books * A hilarious insight into what makes people get together and strip off... William Burroughs' 1959 Naked Lunch may win when it comes to sex and drugs but Naked at Lunch pulls its pants down when it comes to barefaced laughter. * Daily Telegraph (Sydney) * Breezy, free-wheeling, often very funny * Boston Globe * Hilarious and absorbing -- Geoff Dyer Thoughtful and hilarious... Haskell Smith ambles a breezy line between the likes of Geoff Dyer and Bill Bryson * Observer *

Thoughtful and hilarious... Haskell Smith ambles a breezy line between the likes of Geoff Dyer and Bill Bryson Observer Hilarious and absorbing -- Geoff Dyer Breezy, free-wheeling, often very funny Boston Globe A hilarious insight into what makes people get together and strip off... William Burroughs' 1959 Naked Lunch may win when it comes to sex and drugs but Naked at Lunch pulls its pants down when it comes to barefaced laughter. Daily Telegraph (Sydney) A knight in shining lotion... Haskell Smith can hit the David Sedaris humour sweet spot Los Angeles Review of Books A total joy... Even if you've never been nude in your life and have no plans to be in the future, this book will thrill you with its hilarious and outrageous stories and move you with its essential humanity -- Meghan Daum, author of The Unspeakable Insightful, brave, and inspiring. With extraordinary honesty and humor, Haskell Smith faces down social and personal inhibitions to experience both a fascinating subculture and a moving personal transformation -- Jillian Lauren, author of the New York Times bestseller Some Girls A strangely compelling, riotously funny traipse through the world of nudism. Mark Haskell Smith is a worthy heir to the George Plimpton school of journalism. He's not there to mock; he's there to experience humanity in all its full-monty complexity. -- J. Maarten Troost, author of The Sex Lives of Cannibals

Author Information

Mark Haskell Smith is the author of five previous novels, Moist, Delicious, Salty, Baked, and Raw, and the non-fiction book Heart of Dankness. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and Vulture. He lives in Los Angeles.

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