The Pornographer's Daughter

Sara Alterman thought she knew her father, a man so reticent about sex he would choke on the word “ovary” and lunge across the room to turn off a kissing scene on TV. Yes, she thought she knew her puritanical father until the day she found his porn stash.  Ah, but this wasn’t just any porn, no well-thumbed Playboys for Ira Alterman, but rather Sara found a whole series of whimsically perverted, punnily-titled sex manuals authored by Ira Alterman. What!?! Her father wrote porn? Yes, indeed, with disconcerting references to lollipops and sausages. Sara was confused, intrigued and vowed to never speak of them. Although she never vowed not to read them. 

Nothing was mentioned of Ira Alterman, Porn Writer, until years later after being laid off her father asked for Sara’s help with some book proposals. Anticipating some children’s stories, Sara opened her email and found book proposals for those whimsically perverted, punnily-titled sex manuals complete with sample illustrations. The Clown Kama Sutra. Coming Soon: The Official Condom User’s Guide. You get the picture. Here her memoir turns poignant, as the newly uninhibited Ira is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. In the face of that, what was a little porn between family members? Let’s Never Talk About This Again is Sara Alterman’s funny and bittersweet memoir about fathers and daughters, Alzheimer’s and, um, pornography.