As a distinctive subculture, naturism boasts an extensive array of literature, ranging from historical foundations like Maurice Parmelee’s 1927 book “The New Gymnosophy” to Cec Cinder’s influential “The Nudist Idea,” published more than seventy years later. The genre also thrives in fiction, including notable contemporary works like “The Volunteer” by D.H. Jonathan, “Skinners” by Will Forest, and “The Feral Girl” by Nick Alimonos, each of which explores naturist themes within engaging narratives. Then there are comic books like Ellen Forney’s “I Was Seven in ‘75” or the 2015 graphic novel, “Nudism Comes to Connecticut.” These are all American titles, but there are many more amazing examples from around the world. The field of naturist literature also spans academic and exploratory studies. Including all of these into the broad theme of “nudist books,” there are literally hundreds of titles in aggregate, spanning more than a century of history just in the English language alone. All of these various writings enrich our understanding and appreciation of nudist philosophy and participation.
In this week’s #UndressedThread we want to know about your favorite nudist books! Join the conversation on what nudist books have touched or transformed your views, and leave a comment or a recommendation below.
What are your favorite nudist books?
What nudist book changed or challenged your perceptions about nudity or nudism?
Which nudist author’s work do you find most influential, and why?
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We're excited to read your thoughts and recommendations in the comments below!
I like the following long, but readable text, because it includes general commentary, as well as discussion by clergy: Cunningham, J. C. (2006). Nudity & Christianity. Author House.
Interesting choice. I think Christianity in nudism, and Christian nudism, are somewhat underdiscussed, at least online. As a non-Christian, I don't understand it; not so much the dictionary definition of it as what makes it tick.
The Cool Cottontail by John Ball is obviously showing its age now (it was published in the mid-60's) but it combines Utopian enthusiasm for nudist values with an entertaining plot and a literate style that makes it a pure pleasure to read.
I have written a few short stories as well as doing the covers for a Naturist Fiction anthologie with over 40 authors. The books dealt with themes, such as, murder mystery, nudist resorts, holidays and most recently, adventure. All currently available through Amazon. Some serious as well as funny and campy. All good for summer reading.
I’ve written four naturist novels which I hope people enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing. “The Girl Who Stopped Wearing Clothes” is the sequel to The “Volunteer”, and I tried to make it as different from that first book as “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was from “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”. Besides my own books, I have enjoyed the novels of Will Forest. In fact, we have shared a book signing table at several fall and/or arts festivals at the Oaklake Trails Naturist Resort.
Cec Cinder's "The Nudist Idea" gets my vote! It's my bible for understanding this movement and it should be a high school and college course. My husband and I were fortunate to spend a day with Cec and his wife at their home. It was no less than inspirational.
I voted modern narratives, mainly because it's more "real life" to me. Most of the fiction I've attempted to read almost always goes off topic at some point. And isn't what I nor most of us see as true nudism. But I'm always looking for good fiction that stays on topic. Having learned about nudism through the old 50's-60's nudist magazines, if you've ever read them, you'll notice they really weren't written by professional writers, and as a youngster, hard to follow along.
With the dawn of Social Media, I've searched for and read many "First Time", "How I got Into Nudism", "I was Raised in a Nudist Family" stories, and honestly, that's what I want to hear and or read.
Jelaine Lombardi's "Running Around Naked" is a fascinating story, and it's her story. I read it on my Kindle, then bought the actual book also. It's a book I will read again and again.
As important as nudist tomes such as Parmalee's and Cinder's well-reasoned and researched texts are, I feel that more people are impacted by well-written stories of real (or realistic) people. The closer we can get to where people already are in their thoughts and beliefs, the more chance we have of affecting those beliefs. Keep the fiction (and non-fiction, of course!) coming!
I'm very new to the naturist lifestyle and I started reading some great naturist fiction novels from naturist authors Will Forest, P.Z. Walker and Stan Muir. I highly recommend Co-Ed naked philosophy by Will forest, Mirror Earth and the Naked Crow series by P.Z. Walker.
It's been a while since I read it all the way through, but I still dip into Cinder's "Nudist Idea." I wrote a fan letter to Grace, nee Stephen, Crowley, and wound up writing the introduction to "The Koala Bares." "Nudist Society" by William Hartman, Marilyn Fithian, and Donald Johnson (David Ball) is interesting for the researchers' having given nudists the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. Fred Ifeld and Roger Lauer were two Yale honors students who researched nudism and spent time participating at several clubs for their honors thesis, "Social Nudism in America." Peter Simon's "Decent Exposures" is a collection of pictures he took of his naked hippie friends. Although, it's not properly a nudist work, Alicia Bay Laurel's hand-drawn and written "Living on the Earth" contains several drawings of nude hippies in nature, including a self portrait. This homemade book, featuring a joyous cover nude, was on a lot of campus acidhead libraries. I haven't found Living on the Earth's recipes for hedonic poverty useful, but its aspiration formed a lot of choices.
I've been meaning to read this! I'm a huge fan of Philip and had a great convo with him a few years ago when he was still involved with OBOD and he's genuinely an amazing person. Thank you for the reminder!
I like the old German text by Adolf Koch, Hans Suren , and Richard Ungewitter. Some of the ideas are outdated, but they still serve a good basis. The more recent texts by Mark Story are good too.
Something you did not mention, which I understand not all people liking are the art books by Jock Sturges. Because he is a naturist, I believe it gives a good look into who we are through photographs, without being exploited. Of course, there would always be the select few who may buy his books for other purposes.
I tried to get into Skinners but I'm just not a fiction fan, sadly. I enjoyed How to Take Your Clothes Off by Matthew McDermott (and have gifted it a few times before), Naked by Brian Hoffman was a great historical intro for me, and looking forward to reading What Nudism Exposes by Mary-Ann Shantz on a post-war Canadian history. So far, my favorite, however, is The Naked Hermit by British naturist, Nick Mayhew-Smith on nude, spiritual rituals and customs of hermetic and monastic lifestyles in the Middle Ages and how the author reenacts them. Anytime spirituality and nudity cross, it really gets me excited!
Several of Robert Heinlein's stories and novels include simple nudity in one way or another. Two stand out: The Puppet Masters, in which a nation goes nude for a very good reason; and The Door Into Sunmer, which contains a detailed description of Mountain Air Ranch in Colorado.
There isn't a lot of nudist fiction that I find interesting but there is a lot of science fiction out there that explores clothing optional situations and environments.
Off hand, Heinlein and Chalker are authors who come to mid immediately. There are others. "The Cool Cottontail" is probably the best fiction specifically dealing with nudism as opposed to casual nudity. But the protagonist is not a nudist.
Grace Crowley was hugely influential on my own work and still is, though she's moved away from nudist comics. P.Z. Walker's books are pretty good, though I think he could benefit from slowing down and revising more (maybe I should tell him).
I was hugely influenced by Heinlein's novels, but found upon rereading them in my late 20s that they did not hold up. Still, some of that influence remains.
I am a sucker for Naturist literature, so it is hard to pick favorites. Of the old classics, I would say:
Among The Nudists by Francis & Mason Merrill (helped get things rolling in the U.S.)
Adventures in Nakedness by Julian Strange (well written and Julian is quite likable)
The Nudists by Donald Johnson (just a great primer by someone who knows)
While there is a lot of really good contemporary and late 20th century work, I do have a favorite and that is The Koala Bares by Stephen Crowley. It is a delightful and fun graphic novel that captures naturist culture beautifully with entertaining stories.
Perhaps not my favorite but another recent book that deserves a plug on account of its extraordinary and comprehensive scholarship is Art Follows Nature: A Worldwide History of The Nude. by Paul LeValley. The human form has been a subject of the visual arts as long as there has been visual arts. It is good to have a history of this written from a nudist perspective.
Rarely have I come across naturist related fiction that clicked with me. I tend to read more “personal experiences” work and histories, naturist or otherwise.
I like the following long, but readable text, because it includes general commentary, as well as discussion by clergy: Cunningham, J. C. (2006). Nudity & Christianity. Author House.
Interesting choice. I think Christianity in nudism, and Christian nudism, are somewhat underdiscussed, at least online. As a non-Christian, I don't understand it; not so much the dictionary definition of it as what makes it tick.
The Cool Cottontail by John Ball is obviously showing its age now (it was published in the mid-60's) but it combines Utopian enthusiasm for nudist values with an entertaining plot and a literate style that makes it a pure pleasure to read.
I have written a few short stories as well as doing the covers for a Naturist Fiction anthologie with over 40 authors. The books dealt with themes, such as, murder mystery, nudist resorts, holidays and most recently, adventure. All currently available through Amazon. Some serious as well as funny and campy. All good for summer reading.
I’ve written four naturist novels which I hope people enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing. “The Girl Who Stopped Wearing Clothes” is the sequel to The “Volunteer”, and I tried to make it as different from that first book as “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was from “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”. Besides my own books, I have enjoyed the novels of Will Forest. In fact, we have shared a book signing table at several fall and/or arts festivals at the Oaklake Trails Naturist Resort.
Cec Cinder's "The Nudist Idea" gets my vote! It's my bible for understanding this movement and it should be a high school and college course. My husband and I were fortunate to spend a day with Cec and his wife at their home. It was no less than inspirational.
I voted modern narratives, mainly because it's more "real life" to me. Most of the fiction I've attempted to read almost always goes off topic at some point. And isn't what I nor most of us see as true nudism. But I'm always looking for good fiction that stays on topic. Having learned about nudism through the old 50's-60's nudist magazines, if you've ever read them, you'll notice they really weren't written by professional writers, and as a youngster, hard to follow along.
With the dawn of Social Media, I've searched for and read many "First Time", "How I got Into Nudism", "I was Raised in a Nudist Family" stories, and honestly, that's what I want to hear and or read.
Jelaine Lombardi's "Running Around Naked" is a fascinating story, and it's her story. I read it on my Kindle, then bought the actual book also. It's a book I will read again and again.
As important as nudist tomes such as Parmalee's and Cinder's well-reasoned and researched texts are, I feel that more people are impacted by well-written stories of real (or realistic) people. The closer we can get to where people already are in their thoughts and beliefs, the more chance we have of affecting those beliefs. Keep the fiction (and non-fiction, of course!) coming!
I'm very new to the naturist lifestyle and I started reading some great naturist fiction novels from naturist authors Will Forest, P.Z. Walker and Stan Muir. I highly recommend Co-Ed naked philosophy by Will forest, Mirror Earth and the Naked Crow series by P.Z. Walker.
Hello.
I recently read the trilogy about nudism & I recommend it too.
Hubert Mercier's books on the coolibri website.
https://www.coollibri.com/bibliotheque-en-ligne/hubert-mercier
It's been a while since I read it all the way through, but I still dip into Cinder's "Nudist Idea." I wrote a fan letter to Grace, nee Stephen, Crowley, and wound up writing the introduction to "The Koala Bares." "Nudist Society" by William Hartman, Marilyn Fithian, and Donald Johnson (David Ball) is interesting for the researchers' having given nudists the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. Fred Ifeld and Roger Lauer were two Yale honors students who researched nudism and spent time participating at several clubs for their honors thesis, "Social Nudism in America." Peter Simon's "Decent Exposures" is a collection of pictures he took of his naked hippie friends. Although, it's not properly a nudist work, Alicia Bay Laurel's hand-drawn and written "Living on the Earth" contains several drawings of nude hippies in nature, including a self portrait. This homemade book, featuring a joyous cover nude, was on a lot of campus acidhead libraries. I haven't found Living on the Earth's recipes for hedonic poverty useful, but its aspiration formed a lot of choices.
Philip Carr-Gomm's excellent 'A Brief History of Nakedness' avoids -ism or -ist terms.
I've been meaning to read this! I'm a huge fan of Philip and had a great convo with him a few years ago when he was still involved with OBOD and he's genuinely an amazing person. Thank you for the reminder!
Oh, he's not OBOD's 'pope' any longer? He is wonderful to read, and listen to. I recommend any podcast interview with Philip Carr-Gomm.
I like the old German text by Adolf Koch, Hans Suren , and Richard Ungewitter. Some of the ideas are outdated, but they still serve a good basis. The more recent texts by Mark Story are good too.
Something you did not mention, which I understand not all people liking are the art books by Jock Sturges. Because he is a naturist, I believe it gives a good look into who we are through photographs, without being exploited. Of course, there would always be the select few who may buy his books for other purposes.
I tried to get into Skinners but I'm just not a fiction fan, sadly. I enjoyed How to Take Your Clothes Off by Matthew McDermott (and have gifted it a few times before), Naked by Brian Hoffman was a great historical intro for me, and looking forward to reading What Nudism Exposes by Mary-Ann Shantz on a post-war Canadian history. So far, my favorite, however, is The Naked Hermit by British naturist, Nick Mayhew-Smith on nude, spiritual rituals and customs of hermetic and monastic lifestyles in the Middle Ages and how the author reenacts them. Anytime spirituality and nudity cross, it really gets me excited!
Nick is an incredibly smart and thoughtful guy. I haven't read his book yet but I'll put it on my list!
This is so gratifying to hear - thank you so much, Kane!
Oh my gosh I didn't know you're on here! That reminds me, I need to get another copy for my best friend's wife. Convert the masses! haha
Contact me at canudian1@gmail.com if you like, and I'll get a signed copy to you!
Oh wow! Thank you so much!! I will reach out this weekend. Cheers!
Several of Robert Heinlein's stories and novels include simple nudity in one way or another. Two stand out: The Puppet Masters, in which a nation goes nude for a very good reason; and The Door Into Sunmer, which contains a detailed description of Mountain Air Ranch in Colorado.
There isn't a lot of nudist fiction that I find interesting but there is a lot of science fiction out there that explores clothing optional situations and environments.
Off hand, Heinlein and Chalker are authors who come to mid immediately. There are others. "The Cool Cottontail" is probably the best fiction specifically dealing with nudism as opposed to casual nudity. But the protagonist is not a nudist.
Grace Crowley was hugely influential on my own work and still is, though she's moved away from nudist comics. P.Z. Walker's books are pretty good, though I think he could benefit from slowing down and revising more (maybe I should tell him).
I was hugely influenced by Heinlein's novels, but found upon rereading them in my late 20s that they did not hold up. Still, some of that influence remains.
I am a sucker for Naturist literature, so it is hard to pick favorites. Of the old classics, I would say:
Among The Nudists by Francis & Mason Merrill (helped get things rolling in the U.S.)
Adventures in Nakedness by Julian Strange (well written and Julian is quite likable)
The Nudists by Donald Johnson (just a great primer by someone who knows)
While there is a lot of really good contemporary and late 20th century work, I do have a favorite and that is The Koala Bares by Stephen Crowley. It is a delightful and fun graphic novel that captures naturist culture beautifully with entertaining stories.
Perhaps not my favorite but another recent book that deserves a plug on account of its extraordinary and comprehensive scholarship is Art Follows Nature: A Worldwide History of The Nude. by Paul LeValley. The human form has been a subject of the visual arts as long as there has been visual arts. It is good to have a history of this written from a nudist perspective.
I found Adventures in Nakedness by Julian Strange at a rare book store in Providence a few years back, I bought it for $80.
Rarely have I come across naturist related fiction that clicked with me. I tend to read more “personal experiences” work and histories, naturist or otherwise.