The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfillment While Keeping Your Clothes on

by Dawn Eden

Book Overview

Finally, a book for single women who, unsatisfied with living a worldly lifestyle, want to give their lives a new and godly direction. Author Dawn Eden, a Jewish-born rock journalist turned salty Christian blog queen, gives these readers the positive and uplifting message that they've been wanting to hear-that spiritual healing and a renewed outlook await them. Using her own experiences in the New York City singles jungle, she shows women how they...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 084991311X
• ISBN13: 9780849913112
• Release Date: December 2006
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Coming Clean

I read a review of 'The Thrill of the Chaste' in Gilbert magazine some months ago. I didn't immediately buy a copy, but I kept wondering what Dawn Eden had written. When I saw her on the list of speakers at the upcoming Chesterton conference in St. Paul (June 2007), I decided I had to order one and read the book to see what makes this woman tick. I'm sure I am not in the target demographic - young women - for this book. However, I have things in my past that I also regret. There are two things in life I have found to be painful, renewing, and most definitely worth the price: confession and forgiveness. I mean that in the sense both of confessing one's sins and forgiving others. There is a real sense of restoration, of honest humility, of being cleansed. Reading Thrill of the Chaste was much like that sort of cleansing. I kept thinking that her path, while different from mine, involved the same history of painful mistakes, redemption, and restoration. As others have said, Dawn Eden manages to be almost excruciatingly honest without wallowing in any sort of sick attention seeking. I've said I find confession cleansing, but I am uncomfortable with publicly proclaimed confession in many cases, especially when it seems intended to draw a crowd. Ms. Eden is of course a very fine writer. The reason her book is excruciating at times is because it is so easy to see that her mistakes have been so much like ours. Sexual temptation of one kind or another seems to be almost universal. Isn't it a bracing blast of fresh air to find an author who does not worship at the altar of political correctness? Doesn't it make us stronger to refuse to buy any longer into the mass media con job that promiscuity is the meaning of life? Dawn's description of hating the obligitory shared breakfast after a one-night stand starkly contrasts the lie with a dose of reality. I found the book terribly interesting, an excellent read.

A must-read for young women

In The Thrill of the Chaste, Dawn Eden provides a much-needed argument against today's "Sex and the City"-centric culture. Drawing upon her own experiences, both good and bad, Eden not only illustrates the hidden dangers of casual sex, she also provides an inspirational take on living a chaste lifestyle and how doing so will benefit oneself and one's relationships. As a 20-something female New Yorker, I found Eden's perspective relevant, refreshing, and extremely valuable. Eden engages the reader right away with her hip yet eloquent writing. A former player in the casual sex arena that today's society so vehemently promotes, Eden is not shy about revealing her past, nor does she scold those who engage in the behavior that she has since turned from. Rather, she writes in a simple, honest manner that will immediately hit home with female readers who, having tried the "Sex and the City" approach to love and sex, are unsatisfied with the state of their own relationships and are looking for something more. Eden's witty, often quite funny writing is grounded in her own examples, and her references to pop culture (including, of course, various "Sex and the City" episodes) make her work light and easy to relate to. She shares details about her own sexual past and the relationships that she eventually realized were so damaging, yet she does so tastefully, revealing the truth about her behavior rather than sensationalizing it. She shows first-hand how casual sex is often used in an effort to obtain a committed relationship but almost always winds up doing quite the opposite, preventing meaningful, loving relationships from being established. She clearly demonstrates the harmful effects of such cavalier attitudes toward sex, especially on women, for whom she explains that sex is by nature an intimate act meant to establish an emotional bond. But Eden does not just limit her discussion of chastity to the pitfalls of premarital sex and the benefits of waiting. She explains how living chastely translates to every aspect of one's life, including one's dress and social activities, and how a chaste lifestyle is beneficial to both singles and married couples, successfully debunking the stereotype that chastity is only practiced by religious fanatics and those with an aversion to sexual activity. Although Eden is never preachy or accusatory, her Christian (and predominantly Catholic) views and frequent references to Scripture may be hard to swallow for those with no religious beliefs or no desire to question the cult of casual sex. And, while men can certainly benefit from Eden's wisdom, the book's stylishly girly cover and Eden's focus on a female audience may be a turnoff to guys. However, Eden's insights on the dating world, which include an analysis of the online dating scene and valuable tips on how to branch out and meet potential mates, will be appreciated even by those who have not yet been convinced of the chaste way of life - both male and female.

The thrill of the well-written book

Forget the topic of "The Thrill of the Chaste" for just a moment -- if you're reading this, you probably already have an opinion about it anyway, pro or con. This really isn't a book for single women, Catholics, or single people in general -- it's a book for anyone who craves great writing. Eden, an eloquent blogger to begin with, is an even more eloquent author when given the time and space to lay out her complete argument on the virtues of chastity. Even if you vehemently disagree with her, you owe it to yourself to read this book -- it's a case study in how to present one's thoughts on a complex subject with wit and grace. Writing about a topic like this is tricky. The instant you say you're saving yourself for marriage, people think you're a religious nut, repressed, insane, or all three put together. One strategy is to respond with all rhetorical guns blazing, and shoot down your critics as immoral, out of touch, etc. That will win you plenty of fans -- but they'll mostly be people who already agree with you to begin with. Eden takes the opposite tack, because she's not trying to preach to the choir -- she's trying to persuade young single women to take a second look at their behavior, and you don't succeed at that by calling them names. By calmly laying out her case and relating her own experiences, she slowly leads the reader to understand that not only is she sane, she's remarkably level-headed and serious about what she wants -- a committed marriage and a family. We live in a society where the loudest voice usually prevails, be it on blogs or cable news shout-fests. Do yourself a favor -- read a book written by a writer who doesn't have to resort to cheap stunts to make her point. The good ones never do.

A Real Woman's Case for Chastity

Wow! I just finished this new release by Dawn Eden and it's quite powerful. First, let me preface that this is a book about chastity aimed especially at twenty or thirty-something women who have previously fallen for the "casual sex" dating game. In other words, this isn't one to hand to your young teenage daughter unsupervised. With grace, good humor and a surprisingly upbeat style, Dawn, a 30-something New York journalist, shares the story of her conversion to chastity and her vision of the liberating power of faith. She presents a compelling (and quite readable) account of the shortcomings of modern dating and the fulfilment to be found in a chaste lifestyle. So what if you're not a woman in your 20s and you have lived chastely? Whether you're interested in better understanding those who fall into traps of modern culture or you want to pass good attitudes about sex and marriage on to your children, this book is a great read. First of all, naturally, she's "been there" - she offers amazing insights into the insecure and often depressing world of the "modern" single woman. Her answers aren't preachy, they draw from her experience and her faith in a loving and gentle way. The other piece, though, is that she goes way beyond arguing against this unhealthy lifestyle and a sense of opposing what is wrong. She opens up a complete vision of what is good and how to go about living "the good" in the modern world. Though this isn't for young teens, there's so much good in it, that I plan on sharing it with my daughters some day. Perhaps we'll read it together before they go off to college. Here's a little sample: "If your light shines through everything you do, from the greatest thing to the smallest, then it will be impossible for anyone to miss it. This is why the self-advertisement encouraged by the singles industry is counterproductive. When you focus the spotlight on yourself, no one can see how beautifully your light illuminates those around you."

Hey, guys - this book is for us, too.

While Ms. Eden's story is told primarily for the benefit of other women, I think it has profound implications for guys who are trying find a way out of similar meaningless sexual relationships. My life experience and that of many of the men I know, suggests that we are a major part of the problem. I suspect that should suggest we can be a part of the solution, too. I think we men often do look at the opposite sex as a piece of meat to be devoured. In recent years, it would seem, women have begun to retaliate by being the hunters. As Ms. Eden would tell us, we both lose. If, after reading her book, a guy can still be unconcerned about the nature of the sexual relationship he has with a woman, I believe he has cast a dark cloud over any hope for a worthwhile and meaningfull relationship. Ms. Eden presents a picture of woman that is intentionally pure and prisitine. It is as she was designed to be. Most men I know have never viewed her that way. It is in coming to that understanding that I believe this book will help us become the men we need to be. Ms. Eden has provided me with an idylic vision of the woman I think we, as men, should aspire to become one with. So, guys, we can grow beyond the barn yard romps and become more of what we were designed to be, too. Pass this book around to your friends - male and female. We might be able to effect a change that will better our world.