Strange Bedfellows

With curiosity and wit, Strange Bedfellows rips back the bedsheets to expose what really happens when STDs enter the sack.

Sexually transmitted diseases have been hidden players in our lives for the whole of human history, with roles in everything from World War II to the growth of the Internet to The Bachelor. But despite their prominence, STDs have been shrouded in mystery and taboo for centuries, which begs the question: why do we know so little about them?

Enter Ina Park, MD, who has been pushing boundaries to empower and inform others about sexual health for decades. With Strange Bedfellows, she ventures far beyond the bedroom to examine the hidden role and influence of these widely misunderstood infections and share their untold stories.

Covering everything from AIDS to Zika, Park explores STDs on the cellular, individual, and population-level. She blends science and storytelling with historical tales, real life sexual escapades, and interviews with leading scientists—weaving in a healthy dose of hilarity along the way.

The truth is, most of us are sexually active, yet we’re often unaware of the universe of microscopic bedfellows inside our pants. Park aims to change this by bringing knowledge to the masses in an accessible, no-nonsense, humorous way—helping readers understand the broad impact STDs have on our lives, while at the same time erasing the unfair stigmas attached to them.

A departure from the cone of awkward silence and shame that so often surrounds sexual health, Strange Bedfellows is the straight-shooting book about the consequences of sex that all curious readers have been looking for.

“Whether you have an STI or not, whether you have sex or not, whether you’re queer or not, this is a must-read book for 2020s America.”

—Jonathan Thurston, PRIDESOURCE

Read complete review here.

Your purchase supports sexual health!

A portion of the profits from Strange Bedfellows will be donated to:

University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)—C. Kirk Avent Endowed Support Fund: supports research and training in STIs and other infectious diseases for students, residents and fellows.

San Francisco City Clinic (SFCC): provides free and low-cost sexual health services including prevention, diagnosis and treatment of STIs and HIV, and prevention of unintended pregnancy.

“Fans of witty, meticulously researched chronicles of intriguing popular science topics—think Mary Roach—will devour this fluid mixture of scholarship and levity…A fresh, funny, sex-positive book that effectively destigmatizes sexual disease.”

—Kirkus Reviews, (*Starred Review)

“Informative and frank, Park’s account of sex and STDs is ideal both for the curious and for those too embarrassed to ask.”

—Publisher’s Weekly

“With gripping stories and the right dose of wit, Strange Bedfellows uncovers the wily world of microbes and reveals the shocking history of sexually transmitted diseases.” 

—Randi Hutter Epstein MD, MPH, author of Aroused and Get Me Out

“With wisdom and wit, passion and dispassion, Park uses case narratives and deep clinical knowledge to inform her readers on the importance of STIs.” 

—Allan M. Brandt, Kass Professor of the History of Medicine, Harvard University & author of No Magic Bullet

“Park creates an engrossing, fun, and frank discussion of the science and history behind STDs. Park brings the right amount of care to an often-stigmatized subject.”

—Library Journal

“Whether you have an STI or not, whether you have sex or not, whether you’re queer or not, this is a must-read book for 2020s America.”

—PRIDESOURCE

“Through intriguing anecdotes, [Park] covers the science behind the treatment and prevention of STIs”

—Scientific American, Editor’s Recommendation (Feb 2021)

“The humour and charm of Strange Bedfellows will surely help to break the cone of awkward silence and shame surrounding the topic [STIs]”

—The Lancet

“Strange Bedfellows masterfully tackles a shame-loaded subject with levity, rigorous research, and absorbing historical anecdotes.”

—The Globe and Mail