Intimate, tantalizing, never-before-seen true stories from the edge of modern sex and dating, compiled by Alyssa Shelasky, in the style of her wildly popular ‘Sex Diaries’ column with New York Magazine—with an introduction from Esther Perel, NYT bestselling author of Mating in Captivity

Polyamory is hardly a new cultural touchstone, yet as it continues to enter the mainstream dating world, the realities of this lifestyle often remain opaque. What does the everyday life of someone with multiple partners actually look like? Alyssa Shelasky pulls back the curtain in this candid, groundbreaking compilation of anonymous accounts, told by real people navigating sex and dating outside the bounds of traditional monogamy.

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; a Brooklynite plans a porn brunch for her birthday, reveling in the fact that she finally feels at ease in her body. Some diarists are just beginning to question their relationship with monogamy, others have been polyamorous for 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, revealing varied, far-reaching tales of love, lust, longing and desire.