Intriguing and occasionally unsettling, In Defense of Sin is a re-freshingly frank exploration of some real facts of life. Portmann gathers an on-target collection of great writers' reflections on transgressions both large and small. Readers can devour defenses for promiscuity, greed, deceit, gossip, lust, breaking the golden rule, and more-and use this unusual guide to decide if sin has a place in this contemporary, and virtually unshockable, society. Provocative and illuminating, this book may change how people think about sin, morality, and what's right. Contributors include Aaron Ben-Ze'ev, Anthony Ellis, Jane English, Ludwig Feuerbach, Sigmund Freud, Bernard Mandeville, Jerome Neu, Friedrich Nietzsche, David Novitz, Joyce Carol Oates, David A.J. Richards, Seneca, Jonathan Swift, Richard Wasserstrom, and Oscar Wilde.