For many years, it was assumed that the erotic novel Story of O
had been penned by a man: What woman could—or would—write with such love about female mortification?

Albert Camus stated defiantly, definitively, “A woman could not write this book.” As a male fantasy of domination, the story makes Sadean sense, but as a woman’s fantasy, it would threaten two thousand years of prevailing notions about female sexuality — and upset numerous husbands.

“Women are as immoral as men,” says the author, Dominique Aury (aka Pauline Réage), in American filmmaker Pola Rapaport’s fascinating documentary Écrivain d’O (Writer of O), newly released on DVD. “But,” she continues, her eyes twinkling with girlish mischief, “no one has noticed.”

Toni Bentley | Bookforum via LIP Media Blog.