Reviews

Further Confessions: Myna Wallin
- from Sexlife Canada, By Jon Pressick

"I find sex to be a kind of life force, and it adds a vitality and authenticity to my writing." muses Myna Wallin, author of Confessions of a Reluctant Cougar. "It's by removing your inhibitions, and letting yourself write about people's sexual quirks…that is liberating for me, and hopefully interesting for the reader."

The Cougar phenomenon has certainly exploded. There are websites dedicated to finding Cougars, and for Cougars to find young men. The popular television show Cougartown, starring Courtney Cox, has recently started its second season. A 2003 study by the American Association of Retired Persons reported that 34% of women forty years and older were dating younger men.

Confessions of a Reluctant Cougar was launched earlier this summer, earning Wallin praise as "an uber-hip Erica Jong." It has also been described as "rollicking Sex and the City adventures." Her previously published collection of poetry A Thousand Profane Pieces drew comparisons to Sylvia Plath and Charles Bukowski. She can also be found hosting In Other Words on CKLN 88.1FM in Toronto. The editor and writer feels that "Sex is never just sex in literature unless it's porn (which is fine and has its place). But what I am interested in - through sex - are relationships, the fear, or desire, or passion in those relationships. All the things that make us human and fascinating. So what inspires me is to learn about people, or characters, through examining their sexuality."

While Confessions was never meant to be an accurate description of the dating scene for older women, Myna does lead readers through a raucous ride of different types of men, including a Harley-riding bikini salesman, a semiotics professor, a foot fetishist, a jaded brand consultant, a homeless man, and a bisexual mime. While she certainly writes about sex, she is "not striving entirely for titillation; I'm working on peeling away the masks people wear. And people reveal a lot through their sexual preferences."