"I've never touched a woman," Nicolo said, in deep despair. "You will. It'll take you years to learn what to do--not because it's a matter of technique, but precisely because it isn't. It's a matter of deep understanding, and of love. Nowadays, people have a problem with sex, I think. Popular culture is obsessed with it. It has become almost a sickness. It never was when I was a boy, and when I was in my prime."