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BDSM
First Hand: An Erotic Guide to Fisting
0
Front cover for First Hand: An Erotic Guide to Fisting
By Tim Brough
Published in 2005 by the Nazca Plains Corporation
First Hand begins with Jack Fritscher’s fantastic introduction which is a history that discusses how fisting entered the “homo-masculine” mainstream in the 70s and early 80s. Fritscher mentions numerous books and magazines some of which I had never heard of, but now hope to add to my collection someday.
Tim Brough begins First Hand with a brief introduction to the anatomy of the anus. Following the anatomy lesson is an interview with a physician and his partner as they discuss fisting. While the discussion touches on a few medical aspects of fisting play, the conversation is mostly high praise for the virtue of fisting.
The third section is the most straightforward as it is a how-to on anal fisting. Beginning with the things one needs to have in their toybag for a fisting scene, the section talks about the fisting from the perspective of the top and bottom (or as the book describes it “pitching” and “catching”).
Following the how-to section are interviews with fisting fans and short blurbs where respondents describe their favorite scene and/or the appeal of fisting. Finishing out the book is a 45 page piece of fiction that I frankly did not bother to read.
The how-to section mentioned above consisted of only nine pages making First Hand the textbook example of BDSM writers’ tendency to pad their works, turning pamphlet length discussions into book length tomes. Unfortunately, this practice not only drives me nuts, the extra padding is a disservice to readers who want to learn more about a particular topic.
I have a suggestion for addressing this problem that I hope some enterprising BDSM publisher will steal and put into practice. Rather than having one author write a book devoted to a topic that can be covered in the space of a few pages, create an anthology where different writers can cover various topics using only the length necessary to discuss the topic. Not only would such a work solve the padding problem, the resulting book would become far more useful and indispensable. Alas, based on what I have seen of the BDSM publishing industry the only way such a book will ever see the light of day is if I do it myself.
As I try to review this book, I find myself stumped. On the one hand (pun intended), the book, especially Fritscher’s introduction, was fun to read, save for the fiction. On the other hand (pun intended), for a book subtitled “an erotic guide to fisting” it was not particularly informative and seemed lacking as a guide. Taken as a whole, while I enjoyed the enthusiasm evident in First Hand, there is not much else to recommend about it other than Fritscher’s introduction.
Toybag Guide to Dungeon Emergencies and Supplies
01 year ago
Front cover for Toybag Guide to Dungeon Emergencies and Supplies
By Jay Wiseman
Published in 2004 by Greenery Press
One thing about BDSM books that often frustrates me is that they often present a pamphlet-length topic in book-length form. The result is books that are bloated with asides, awful fiction, wordy prose, and the like that are not only annoying to read, they are also unnecessarily expensive.
In some ways, it is easy to understand why publishers would contribute to this situation given based on their not wholly unreasonable belief that book buyers are more likely to shell out the extra money for an entire book than purchase what might appear to be a flimsy pamphlet. I also think that the book length format appeals to the egos of BDSM authors given that, not only does a book seem a more impressive accomplishment than a pamphlet, but also a book writer is more likely to receive perks such as invitations to speak at BDSM events. I know for a fact that “so-and-so wrote a book” carries considerable cachet in someone’s stature within the larger BDSM community. Unfortunately, whether said book is any good is given scant attention.
In my view this is all very backwards. I would much rather spend $10 on a smaller pamphlet that contains only meaningful pragmatic information than shell out $16 for four times the verbiage and one-eighth of the utility. Also, why on earth would I be excited to hear an author speak when his book is meandering and self-important?
All of which is why I enjoy Greenery Press’ Toybag Guide books so much. Not only are do they distill a topic to the parts that are important to learn, they do away with much of the awfulness that all too often plagues BDSM-related books.
Despite the fact that I was annoyed and distracted by his excessive safety admonitions in SM 101, it is hard to imagine any author who is more suited to write a BDSM safety guide than Jay Wiseman. Here, Wiseman presents most everything a person needs to consider before, during, and after play in a concise easy to read manner. Not only is this is an enjoyable read before an accident, it remains a handy reference to have on hand after a situation arises that requires attention (though not every emergency situation lends itself to “wait let me read this book for five minutes before I act).
In fact this is so enjoyable, I have only one complaint which is that one of the folios, pages 27-58, where inserted into my copy upside down. But this printing error is a minor annoyance that can easily be overlooked.
Story of O
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Story of O front cover
by Pauline Reage
Published in 1965 by Grove Press
I’m not much for fiction. I know lots of folks like fiction, but time spent reading about events that didn’t happen seems like time squandered to me.
Story of O is well established as a classic work of both modern literature and erotic writing. This is fine and well, but not reason enough to make me want to read it. That the book had a substantial impact on the evolving definition of obscenity in the US and represented a significant milestone in the history of erotic publishing did not sway me to put aside my aversion to fiction and read it. What piqued my interest and made me track down a copy so that I could wallow in the promised debauchery was reading feminist critiques of the book, written before true identity of the pseudonymous author was revealed, which claimed that the contents of the book were so misogynistic that the author could only be a man.
I am sure that anyone reading the site is probably familiar with the overall plot of Story of O, so I won’t rehash it here.
Because the book was originally written as a series of letters to a lover, there is a certain discontinuity to the prose, most notably at the book’s sudden and incomplete conclusion. Depsite this, Story of O is a captivating book and deservingly one of the foundational cornerstones of modern conceptions of BDSM.
Screw the Roses, Send Me the Thorns
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Screw the Roses, Send Me the Thorns front cover
By Philip Miller and Molly Devon
Published in 1995 by Mystic Rose Books
A friend is often fond of telling me that he was there at the moment that inspired this book’s title. While he is generally reliable, I don’t know that there is any way to ever verify the veracity of that claim.
Screw the Roses, Send Me the Thorns is often referred to as the ideal primer for anyone newly interested in exploring an interest in BDSM. Having read this and numerous introductory BDSM texts, I can only conclude that this book is so often recommended because it has a catchy title. Compared to all of the other BDSM primers, this is by far the worst of the lot.
While the flow of the book is consistent with others of its type, Screw the Roses is filled with cheesy photographs and even cheesier jokes. For example, chapter 9, devoted to flogging, is titled, “Philip’s Philosophy of Phlogging Phun.”
While using lighthearted prose to put a nervous beginner at ease with BDSM seems reasonable, rather than making the BDSM seem fun (or should it be “phun”?) the bad jokes interrupt the flow and undercut the authors’ credibility.
If one can wade past the distracting jokes, there really is lots of useful information that everyone new to BDSM play would benefit from knowing, and if this is the only primer you can locate you won’t suffer from reading it. However, if you are choosing an introductory BDSM book, you will be better served to read Learning the Ropes by Race Bannon or Consensual Sadomasochism by William A. Henkin and Sybil Holiday.
Intimate Invasions
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Intimate Invasions front cover
by M.R. Strict
Published in 2004 by Greenery Press
Klysmaphilia or enema play is one of those topics that embarrasses most people to talk about, much less express an interest in. Given that, a Greenery Press book devoted to the topic would seem a very worthwhile effort towards expanding everyone’s comfort and familiarity with the topic. Or at least, that’s what I thought prior to reading the book. It pains me to have to say this (for one thing I bristle at the bad pun), but simply put this book is shitty.
One consistently annoying thing about BDSM books in general, and Greenery Press titles in particular, is a writing style that uses fantasy scenes interspersed in between matter of fact discussion. Having endured more of these books than anyone really ought, I have come to the conclusion that most BDSM books would not be published were they written about any other topic. Books about even such potentially mundane topics as gardening, cooking, and sewing are generally better written than even the best BDSM book. It is so bad that I own any number of books that I would be embarrassed to have the coroner find on my bookshelf not because they are dirty but simply because they are poorly written.
But I digress. The most astonishing part about Intimate Invasions is that even though it clocks in at about 140 pages, there are perhaps 20 that contain useful information. Without the awful fantasy sequences this book might have been a good fit for Greenery Press’ “Toybag Guide” series. But even that might be a stretch since even those 20 pages are not reliable because M.R. Strict’s knowledge and advice seems suspect. As bad as the factual sections are, the fantasy sequences are even worse.
Just how bad is this book? It is so bad that I would put more faith in the advice from any number of 1970s enema guides marketed by the same companies that specialized enema themed pornography. Even though they often recommend such potentially dangerous practices as giving wine enemas, they tend to demonstrate a greater passion and knowledge of their subject.
I hope that another BDSM publisher and/or author will devote a book to this worthwhile topic. They certainly will have no trouble writing something better than this.