Madonna's coffee-table book "Sex" is released, later recognized by Guinness as the best-selling coffee-table book in history.
On October 22, 1992, Madonna released Sex, a controversial coffee-table book published by Warner Books, timed to coincide with the release of her album Erotica. The book, wrapped in mylar and packaged with a metallic cover, featured explicit photographs by Steven Meisel depicting Madonna and various celebrities, models, and public figures exploring themes of sexuality, fetishism, and fantasy.
Sex sparked immediate and intense controversy, drawing both fierce criticism from conservative commentators and praise from those who viewed it as a bold feminist statement on female sexual agency and ownership of one's own image.
Despite—or perhaps because of—the controversy, the book was a massive commercial success. Its initial print run sold out almost immediately, with reports of the entire first edition selling out within hours in some markets. Guinness World Records later recognized Sex as having the largest first edition of any book at the time and credited it as the best-selling coffee-table book in publishing history.
The book remains a landmark artifact of early-1990s cultural discourse on sexuality, censorship, and celebrity, and it is frequently cited by scholars examining the intersection of feminism, pop culture, and the commercialization of sexual imagery in mainstream media.