So it turns out Netflix’s Sex/Life is inspired by a real life story

You’re telling me someone has actually lived this chaos?

3 years ago

Netflix’s latest drama series Sex/Life is all anyone on Twitter can talk about. It’s chaotic, messy and features a very explicit scene, if you’ve seen episode three you’ll know exactly what I mean 👀. And it turns out the saucy drama is actually inspired by a book of someone’s real sex life.

The show dropped on Netflix over a week ago and has stayed firmly in the top 10 around the world. It follows the life of Billie, a mother and wife in the suburbs. She has what most people would call a “perfect life” – a rich and loving husband, a beautiful house and two adorable kids. However she still feels like something is missing from her life, namely her ex-boyfriend Brad who was the best sex of her life. The series becomes incredibly messy when Billie writes down her fantasies of their old sex life, only for her husband to read them.

Though the series may seem like the figment of someone’s dirty imagination, it was actually inspired by the real life memoir, 44 Chapters About 4 Men by BB Easton. In the book BB writes about four men she met before her husband and details the sex they used to have. However there are some key differences between the book and the series.

What is the book Sex/Life is based on?

Netflix’s series is inspired by the memoir 44 Chapters About 4 Men by BB Easton. The blurb of the book reads “School psychologists aren’t supposed to write books about sex. Doing so would be considered ‘unethical’ and ‘a fireable offence’. Lucky for you, ethics was never my strong suit.”

The book is a memoir of BB’s experiences with four men she met before her husband, she describes them as “tattoo artist turned U.S. Marine turned motorcycle club outlaw, a baby-faced punk rocker out on parole, and a heavy-metal bass player.” BB began the book as she was feeling stalled in her marriage and wanted to explore her old relationships in order to move on.

BB then left her journal out for her husband to find and according to her he “upped his fucking game” after reading it.

What has BB said about the series?

Though BB wasn’t involved in the creation of the series, she has still praised the Netflix show and called it an “absolute dream come true”.

She said: “Seeing these gorgeous supermodel humans on a screen portraying characters based on my husband and myself while we’re sitting on our busted, 12-year-old couch in our sweatpants, quarantine day 587…we’re just so tickled. It’s been an absolute dream come true that I didn’t even know I had.”

How similar are the series and the book?

There are a few similarities between Sex/Life and BB’s memoir. Both women are school psychologists who feel stalled within their marriages and are writing about their previous relationships, and that’s where the similarities end.

BB writes about a variety of different men, whereas Billie is firmly interested in just Brad. Whilst BB is fantasising and reflecting on her past life, she never does anything about it but the same cannot be said for Billie who very much engages with Brad.

Another difference between the women is BB deliberately leaves out her journal for her husband to find and things go well. He reads it and ups his game. However Billie doesn’t leave her journal out and instead Cooper logs onto her laptop, reads her fantasies and things go from bad to worse.

Sex/ Life is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.

Featured image credit: Netflix