In this brief review, authors Stuttaford, Simson and Zaleski call Isabelle Allende's Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses a "sophisticated defense of pleasure," mixing recipes, anecdotes, and advice together for a whimsical view of romance and sex.

Sex and food, once celebrated as two of life's great joys, suffer a lot of bad press these days. Genuine epidemics, coupled with monthly findings of new things that are bad for us, have pushed otherwise happy souls into programs of agonizing denial and, in severe instances, abstinence. Thankfully, in this sophisticated defense of pleasure, novelist Allende (The House of the Spirits) puts the joy back into eating and loving with all the panache that marks the best of her fiction. Though passionate about her subject, she remains consistently whimsical with this mix of anecdotes, recipes and advice designed to enhance any romantic encounter. As always, her secret weapon is...