Reading The Wild Oats Project was like watching a train wreck and being unable to turn away.  I am almost embarrassed to report on this book but once I start a book, I am compelled to finish it.  This book was recommended by the TV talk show, The Social and diarized the author’s year living in an open marriage.

It is hard to imagine negotiating a year of living with your spouse on weekends and independently through the week.  This author was able to go home and sleep with her husband each weekend while not only exploring her sexuality with other men but living in a type of commune where she experimented with both men and women in very intimate ways.  It is hard to imagine expecting that life could ever return to normal after a year of this behaviour.  To comment on the relationship, the couple clearly had issues to begin with – the author was not sexually happy, the husband did not seem interested in trying new things and the couple did not agree on whether to have children.  The husband’s insistence on having a vasectomy was a huge source of discontent.

Regardless of the marital issues, I found that this book was a tale of reckless selfishness with both partners putting each other at risk by having unprotected sex and destroying their relationship by straying from their marriage.  Although they agreed to ground rules prior to embarking on their ‘adventure’ , they lied, broke their promises and disrespected their relationship.  I can not imagine how the author’s family felt about this book as they read far too much information about the author and her experiences.

If you are looking for a summer read, keep looking and don’t waste your time reading this self-indulgent, selfish adventure in hedonism.