soapland
n.— «It is the night life of Tokyo and Osaka that seems to propel Mr. Mezrich—the hostess clubs, “soaplands” and “sexual harassment clubs” in which Malcolm’s colleagues conduct so much of their business. Harassment clubs, one learns from the book, are stage sets of sorts—mock subway cars filled with young women dressed to look like schoolgirls where men pay for the right to chat and fondle.» —“What Do Men Really Want (To Read About)?” by Ginia Bellafante New York Times May 23, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Jane in Denver, Colorado, is a fan of audiobooks, but wonders if there’s a better word than read to denote having experienced such a book by listening. Some people have suggested ear reading or audio reading or simply experiencing a book. Or...
What if, instead of being an inanimate object, a dictionary were alive? That’s the idea behind a lavishly illustrated new children’s book called The Dictionary Story (Bookshop|Amazon) by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. This is part of a...