Email Novel Suspects Logo
Hachette provides comprehensive global distribution services in the following territories:
United States flag Switch to United States region United Kingdom flag Switch to United Kingdom region Australia flag Switch to Australia region India flag Switch to India region

Hachette Book Group menu

  • Home
  • Publishers
  • Customers
  • Sustainability
  • Retailer Portal
  • Location
  • Our Culture
  • Our Careers
Go to Hachette Book Group home

Hachette Book Group menu

  • Home
  • Publishers
  • Customers
  • Sustainability
  • Retailer Portal
  • Location
  • Our Culture
  • Our Careers

By clicking “Accept,” you agree to the use of cookies and similar technologies on your device as set forth in our Cookie Policy and our Privacy Policy. Please note that certain cookies are essential for this website to function properly and do not require user consent to be deployed.

Sex in Public

The Transformative Social Power of Our Erotic Lives

Coming Soon
Sex in Public Open the full-size image

Loading

Contributors

By Angela Jones

Formats and Prices

On Sale
Jun 16, 2026
Page Count
304 pages
Publisher
Seal Press
ISBN-13
9781541605459

Price

$17.99

Price

$22.99 CAD

Format

  1. Hardcover

Format:

  1. ebook $17.99 $22.99 CAD
  2. Hardcover $30.00 $40.00 CAD

Buy from Other Retailers:

  • Amazon
  • Apple Books
  • Barnes & Noble
  • Google Play
  • Ebooks.com
  • Kobo

A prize-winning sociologist’s radical vision of the social power of erotic life. 

“Fearless, candid, and bold, Sex in Public is necessary reading for anyone interested in imagining a different kind of world, one that approaches eroticism and freedom as fundamentally linked.” —Jennifer C. Nash, author of Black Feminism Reimagined


Whether we are contending with shame, healing from trauma, or experimenting in the bedroom, there is a common tendency to cast anything sexual as a problem best solved in private. Fears of judgment fuel an air of oppression around something that should be liberating. According to feminist sociologist Angela Jones, we must reject this solitary vision of desire to claim the pleasure fundamental to our freedom.

Sex in Public offers a revolutionary new paradigm for understanding sexuality. Sex is never strictly personal, but relentlessly social, shaped by power relations, and possessing outsized power of its own. To make this case, Jones charts the inner and interrelated workings of our desires, behaviors, identities, relationships, and communities. 

Guiding readers through field-leading sociology, sexual science, and the voices of sexual rule-breakers worldwide, Jones pinpoints the repressive forces that distort eroticism’s power, but also reveals our means of breaking free. Championing a rebellious spirit that uplifts bodily autonomy, justice, and care, Sex in Public makes a tantalizing promise: better sex lives and empowerment await, if only we dare to know our sexualities fully, reimagining society as we do.

 

Genre:

  • Nonfiction
  • Social Science
  • Human Sexuality (see Also Psychology
  • Human Sexuality)

Angela Jones is a professor of women, gender, and sexuality studies at Stony Brook University. Their work focuses on gender, sexuality, race, feminist theory, sex work, and African American political thought and protest. Jones has written or edited ten books, including Sex Work Today, Black Lives Matter, and Camming. They live in New York.

  • “I can’t wait to see what sociologist Dr. Angela Jones has to say about how we can take the private shame and taboo away from sexuality and transform it into an empowering foundation for societal change.”
    Ms. Magazine, The Most Anticipated Feminist Books of 2026
  • “A fascinating and grounded exploration of the subversive sex lives of ‘erotic rule breakers’…The book comes alive when Jones details, with remarkable openness and vulnerability, their own experiences and experiments in sexual subcultures…Readers will appreciate this sharp reconsideration of how to approach eroticism with more agency, consent, and intention.”
    Publishers Weekly
  • “Sex in Public cogently dispels the myth that certain expressions of sexuality are ‘correct’ and ‘normal,’ while others are ‘incorrect’ or ‘abnormal.’ Drawing from the sociological literature, interviews with people across diverse sexual identities and communities, and their own personal experiences, Angela Jones makes a powerful case that sex is multidimensional, ever-shifting, and deeply social.”
    Julia Serano, author of Whipping Girl
  • “An exquisite blend of research-based insights and real-world examples about the unpredictable realm of sexual behavior, Sex in Public is a juicy read! Never coy, Angela Jones confronts what is both deliciously creative and stiflingly constrained about sex. They show us that it is precisely the act of trying to understand those repressive forces that frees our sexual imaginations, making sex a vital pathway toward a better collective future.”
    Jane Ward, author of The Tragedy of Heterosexuality
  • “Sex in Public dares to explore sexual sociology without defanging the erotic. Angela Jones writes fearlessly about their own sexual subcultures while remaining curious about the lives and identities of others. Rigorously deep, gleefully vulgar, accessibly welcoming. A new classic!”
    Tina Horn, author of Why Are People Into That?
  • “Angela Jones has offered a timely Black feminist primer on erotic empowerment. Jones rightly insists that empowerment isn’t just about individual autonomy, it’s about actively crafting a social world that prioritizes sex education, sexual literacy, joy, and a fierce commitment to dismantling intersecting structures of domination. Fearless, candid, and bold, Sex in Public is necessary reading for anyone interested in imagining a different kind of world, one that approaches eroticism and freedom as fundamentally linked.”
    Jennifer C. Nash, author of Black Feminism Reimagined

You May Also Like

Why Are People Into That?
Why Are People Into That? $30.00 $39.00 CAD
DIY
DIY $17.99 $23.99 CAD
Naked
Naked $18.99 $23.99 CAD
When Men Behave Badly
When Men Behave Badly $28.00 $35.00 CAD
The Pleasure Gap
The Pleasure Gap $28.00 $35.00 CAD

Angela Jones

About the Author

Angela Jones is a professor of women, gender, and sexuality studies at Stony Brook University. Their work focuses on gender, sexuality, race, feminist theory, sex work, and African American political thought and protest. Jones has written or edited ten books, including Sex Work Today, Black Lives Matter, and Camming. They live in New York.

Learn more about this author

▲
HBG Distribution logo
  • FAQ
  • Vendors
  • Cookie Policy
  • Report Piracy
  • Fraud Alert
  • CPSIA
  • GPSR
© 2026 Hachette Book Group | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Do Not Sell My Personal Information