Feeling Pleasures argues that the sense of touch assumed a new and unique importance in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and that the work of major poets of the period, including Edmund Spenser, William Shakespeare, and John Milton, should be read alongside these developing ideas. [A]n impressive scholarly achievement. This thoughtfully observed and beautifully written book is a pleasure to read, and a moving reminder that the instinct toward intimate contact lies at the heart of all of our inquiries into the lost worlds of the past.