Introduction
"Memoirs of a Playboy" created a tremendous stir upon publication in the literary circles of Paris and London. Since it was declared to be "a work offensive to the general public morality" by the London Board of Censors, as well as in Paris, all copies were confiscated and further publication prohibited. Fortunately, copies of the original printing survived through the interest of collectors of modern literary erotica in this unusual tale of way out sexual mores.
Actually, not since the days of Oscar Wilde and his coterie of highly-placed homosexuals and erotic experimenters, have the fine nuances of every type of sensual debauchery been so vividly described as in "Memoirs of a Playboy." The reference to Oscar Wilde is not idly taken, since the eternally lusting Don Juan who must physically possess every woman he meets, bears further analysis.
As exemplified by our hero, this type is literally obsessed with what seems to be a super-sex drive, a bull-like virility that must find its outlet in every feminine body encountered. And, as the reader will soon see, the utmost sexual intimacy is achieved with a bewildering succession of fair ladies-as well as some sex partners who are not quite ladies ....
At this point, it may be well to bear in mind the observation of the famous psychoanalyst Alfred Adler that "the male who is driven to frequent copulation with successively different sex-partners is not the dominant male that he wishes to project. In actuality, he is suffering from a crippling neurosis which we may best describe as unconscious homosexuality. It is to dispel this secret fear of his own homosexuality that drives the philanderer in his quest of endless sexual adventuring. Should an actual homosexual episode take place, it may well precipitate a complete nervous breakdown in this type of individual."
If this psychoanalytic observation will be kept in mind, it will give the reader considerable insight into the amorous adventures described in this fast-moving tale.
The author of this story has gone on to further literary heights, but the autobiographical intensity of "Memoirs of a Playboy" has an unequalled spellbinding effect-we know it all really happened.
This complete and unexpurgated edition is reprinted in its entirety, without deletions of any kind. It is recommended for the mature adult reader only.
Allan Saunders, M.A. New York City, January 1968