The Cartography of Heterosexual Kissing

Mapping the Peaks and Pitfalls of an Intimate Art

My friend and I were on the phone, meandering through the usual labyrinth of conversation, when we somehow found ourselves on the topic of kissing. I don’t remember how we got there. I think one of us brought up how disconcerting a bad kisser can be.

We traced our histories back to those first, fumbling encounters as teenagers, the moments when we cros…