"Ms. Bentley belongs to . . . the
tradition of D. H. Lawrence, Norman
Mailer, Henry Miller and Anaïs Nin,
which sees sex as an avenue to spirituality,
to the mystical and sublime."
--Charles McGrath, New York Times


Few women do it and even fewer will admit to it. But in Toni Bentley’s daring and intimate memoir, The Surrender, she candidly pulls the sheets back on a sexual act that’s been forbidden since the Bible and celebrates “the joy that lies on the other side of convention, where risk is real and rapture resides.” From The Story of O to The Kiss to The Sexual Life of Catherine M, readers have been enthralled with sexually subversive memoirs by women. But even those erotic classics didn’t navigate the psychosexual terrain that Bentley does when she meets a lover who introduces her to a radical and unexpected pleasure, to the “holy” act that she came to see as her awakening.

The Surrender is a witty, intelligent, and eloquent exploration of one woman’s obsession that will be sure to leave readers questioning their own desires.

"Stylish and amusing."
-- Entertainment Weekly

"An intelligent, funny memoir."
--Vanity Fair

"Wonderfully smart and sexy and witty and moving."
-- Publishers Weekly

"A small masterpiece of erotic writing.”
-- Leon Wieseltier

"The Surrender is a brave book ... in its
earnest attempt to do justice to the transcendent
dimensions of a profane act."
-- New York Times Book Review

"A fierce and funny book, intimidating and
inviting in equally big doses."
-- Davitt Sigerson

"Genuinely daring in its self-exposure...
Surely the greatest hymn to the transcendent
powers of sodomy since the Marquis de Sade."
-- Village Voice

"Toni Bentley has done nearly the unimaginable:
she has written about a profane act in a sacred manner,
which is the hallmark of any great writer."
-- Bruce Wagner

"Arousing, fascinating, and beautifully written, Toni Bentley’s The
Surrender is a unique testimonial to one woman’s
passion and intellect. Think The Story of O with a high IQ
and a sense of humor ... Bentley is
shameless, brazen, and hot.”
-- Jerry Stahl

"The art of talking dirty has come late to
women, but when we get it - and Toni Bentley
has - the pages burst into flames."
-- Nancy Friday

"Bentley's laser-sharp prose, dead-on economy, and mastery of the
salient detail make it a master class in erotica writing as well...
A tribute to virtuoso sex as worthy in itself, liberated from
all the moralistic values that try to tie it down,
The Surrender is so much more than a book. It's a revolution."
-- Gary Meyer

"What Bentley has achieved in these pages
is something rare and unexpected. Hers is an erotic
journey neither prurient nor grandiose, resulting in
a work of high literary ambition rendered
unforgettable by its unflinching candor."
-- David M. Friedman

"Bentley has gone into territory other writers are
afraid of, and that has been considered male
journey neither prurient nor grandiose, resulting in
a work of high literary ambition rendered
territory at that, and done so bravely and sexily."
-- Philip Weiss

Toni Bentley danced with George Balanchine’s New York City Ballet for ten years. She is the author of Winter Season: A Dancer’s Journal, Holding On to the Air: an Autobiography (by Suzanne Farrell with Toni Bentley), Costumes by Karinska and Sisters of Salome, all of which were New York Times Notable Books. She has written articles for numerous publications including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Allure and Rolling Stone.