Teach Yourself Fucking front cover

by Tuli Kupferberg
Published in 2000 by Autonomedia

There are few self-instruction books are devoted to subjects which interest me.  This is particularly true of the “for Dummies” series of books.  I cannot imagine spending hard earned cash for a book that declares me a dummy.  Where does one turn if the “for Dummies” proves to be too challenging?  For Morons?  For Nincompoops?

Given a choice, I think I would much rather my mother catch me having a lurid encounter with the family dog while I was clad in a nun’s habit than have the cable guy see any “for Dummies” book on my bookshelf.  I don’t think I’m alone.

If you wonder if there is a “Sex for Dummies” book, be assured there is.  It was written by sex educator Dr. Ruth Westheimer. As of this writing, it is in its third edition.  While I am opposed to censorship, this is the one book I can make an exception for. After all, who on earth thinks it’s a good idea for dummies to fuck?  If natural selection tells us one thing, it’s that when the stupid people spawn, it is likely their offspring will be stupid too.

Contrarians might suggest that as you teach the dumdums about sex you can also teach them about contraception, but I remain skeptical that they have the faculties to understand the importance of contraception and/or practice it properly.  Nero may have played the fiddle while Rome burned, but Wiley Publishing seems to be actively fanning the flames of our society’s downfall.

What does that have to do with Teach Yourself Fucking? Not much really, despite its title, Teach Yourself Fucking is not a self-teaching aid.  Instead it is a compilation of Kupferberg’s cartoons and collages which target journalism and people in power.

For those of you not in the know, Tuli Kupferberg gained fame as a member of the proto-punk art rock band The Fugs.  He is also known for writing the classic hippie books 1001 Ways to Beat the Draft and 1001 to Live Without Working.

No one would accuse Kupferberg of being a talented illustrator, but his absurdist humor shines through his simple drawings.  The work is filled with sexual imagery and language that make it definitely inappropriate for the kids. For instance, one work captioned at the bottom with “Hero Worship” is a crude drawing of a phallus. It appears directly opposite the drawing of a vagina labeled “The Land of Mystery.”

While Kupferberg’s best work is likely behind him, Teach Yourself Fucking is entertaining collection.