Fleshbot: Books

"The Price": Natalie McLennan's Girlfriend Experience

Gram Ponante — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:00:00 EST

What is most compelling about "The Price," Natalie McLennan's document of her life as "Natalia," the face of New York's high-end escort scene in the thrilling middle years of this decade, is not the ins and outs, tics and foibles of the celebrities and other high rollers who would plunk down $2k an hour for her company: it is the absence of feminist, post-feminist, and post-"Girl Power" rhetoric in her book, which reads like the "Behind the Music" ("but for prostitutes") the author admits it is. And in that way it is a snapshot, not a mugshot, and a straightforward description of the cost of doing business.

McLennan, an aspiring actress and former Canadian junior tap dancing champion from Montreal, came to New York in 2000 and didn't catch the acting break she needed. Broke and single in 2003 and not knowing how she would pay her rent, she followed what was a surprisingly short series of leads into prostitution. But not the street kind: the limo and rooftop pool kind.

And that in three years it was all over isn't the story of the book. "In retrospect," McLellan told Fleshbot from Montreal, "there are only elements that I wouldn't repeat. Like the drugs. But I can't say it wasn't a great time or that I didn't learn a lot."

McLellan's rise from $700 an hour to more than $2k per session is fairly short. While she believes she is good at what she does, is well-read, articulate, and engaging, McLennan doesn't think of herself as model-beautiful. We get the impression that the world is ready for someone like her to occupy a space rather than submitting to her will.

"Post-9/11," McLennan said, "maybe people were thinking of other things."

She covers the logistics of the escort agency New York Confidential in a style that is less bookish and more like a MySpace blog. There is an inevitability about events with unclear antecedents, as if 20 years might need to elapse before we see the Why. As it is, "The Price" is valuable because it paints a picture of a New York where being the city's Number One Escort is something that can be advertised in New York magazine. What made this possible? That's a different book.

In "The Price," McLennan's world goes quickly from penury to shopping sprees where she spends $15k before lunch and, while we see some lean times and an absent dad in her childhood, we don't get the impression that she is damaged goods. She's got boyfriend trouble, sure, sometimes the other escorts get jealous, she wonders whether she should tell the Hollywood agent she's servicing that she's also an actress - but all of it seems so normal. She seems devoid of the baggage that accompanies women in most mass market sex worker narratives.

"Well," McLennan said, "that's because I'm a normal person."

Perhaps because all of the famous characters are still around, McLennan does not name most names, but this serves the narrative in that "The Price" is procedural and not a tell-all; we become more fascinated with her closets and the thread-count of her sheets than we do with who the famous quarterback is.

"Those were the reasons/And that was New York" said McLennan's countryman Leonard Cohen in "Chelsea Hotel #2" which, when you think of it, also paints what someone else might call sordid in a more matter of fact light. As New York Confidential unravels with the imprudent Page Six boasting of its owner, Jason Itzler, as McLennan becomes more mired in drugs, and as events sail toward their inevitable "Behind the Music" conclusion, we still know from the fact that we are reading an autobiography that "this just happened" and it couldn't be that bad.

And it isn't. McLennan got charged with money laundering for her role in the agency, is back in Canada as the manager of a spa, and is doing her book tour, spending a little time, no doubt, on Ashley, an escort acquaintance whose involvement with former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer caused him to resign. But "The Price" is not about Ashley, and it is almost not about McLennan; it's more of a mash note to New York City and the things that are possible there if you are a voyageur sans baggage.

· Buy "The Price: My Rise and Fall As Natalia, New York's #1 Escort"
(amazon.com)

We didn't think it was possible, but we just ...

Lux Alptraum — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:30:01 EDT

We didn't think it was possible, but we just discovered a reason to love the luscious Penny Flame even more. It seems that in addition to being an award winning performer and director, she's also writing a book (working title: "Diary of an American Pornstar"). Curious fans can read an excerpt from the manuscript. We can't wait to see it in print! (xcritic.com)

"Nerve: The First Ten Years" Celebrates A Decade Of Alternative Stimulation

Lux Alptraum — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 17:00:59 EDT

Six years ago, a certain Fleshbot editrix was cutting her sex-on-the-web teeth as an intern at Nerve.com, learning all about the budding world of online media (and more than a little about sex, too). So it's with more than a bit of nostalgia that we leaf through the pages of "Nerve: The First Ten Years," a beautiful tome that pays tribute to a website that's been one of the online world's pre-eminent sources of smart writing about sex, lush photography, and thought provoking insights about one of the most basic parts of life for the past ten years. Though its difficult to render a website into book form—so much of the charm of online media disappears when committed to paper—"The First Ten Years" successfully recreates the Nerve vibe, with a selection of the past decade's best essays, photos, and features. It's a beautiful addition to anyone's library, whether you've been reading Nerve for the past ten years or just discovered them today.

"Nerve: The First Ten Years" is available in stores November 15. Join us after the jump for a sneak peek inside.

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· Nerve (nerve.com)
· Buy "Nerve: The First Ten Years" (amazon.com)

Chuck Palahniuk And Carlos Batts: Teaming Up To Bring You Boobs

Lux Alptraum — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:00:03 EDT

What do you get when you team up the photo skills of Carlos Batt with the literary prowess of Chuck Palahniuk? Why, only the greatest book cover ever (for a book that's pretty awesome, too). It seems "Snuff" is getting the Batts treatment (and we have to admit we're kinda jealous.) The cover shot comes in both censored and nippletastic versions—click through for the nipplage.

· Carlos Batts does Chuck Palahniuk’s “Snuff” (tinynibbles.com)

A Look Inside The New (And Improved!) Joy Of Sex

Lux Alptraum — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:30:33 EDT

A few months ago, we tipped you off to the fact "The Joy of Sex," that legendary hairy hippie sex guide, was getting an upgrade this year, with many new sections and brand new photos and illustrations. After months of eager (and impatient) waiting, we finally got our hands on a copy of the newly revised tome, and spent a good deal of time poring over ever last detail. Our thoughts—and a gallery of photos—inside.

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"The New Joy of Sex" owes a great deal to the old "Joy of Sex"—and not just because they're in the same series. Alex Comfort's name still graces the cover of the book, and much of what he wrote remains intact (only a handful of entries have been ditched entirely). The newness largely comes from the 43 additional passages, which focus on newfangled inventions like phone sex, the internet, sex shops, and sex during pregnancy (yeah, don't ask us why that was left out of the original). Though there's potential for a disjointed, pieced together book; Susan Quilliam manages to maintain Comfort's tone in her new passages, keeping all the wonderful aspects of the original sex guide, while making it a little more relevant for the sexually active of today.

We were, however, a bit taken aback by the updates to the illustrations. While the original "Joy of Sex" depicted those infamous hairy hippies, the new version features a thin, young white couple, with minimal body hair. We're not sure what was behind the change (embracing modern beauty standards? A desire to go mainstream and increase marketability?), but it left us feeling a bit nostalgic for the old illustrations. We can see hot young naked people anywhere—the "Joy of Sex" was always a repository for a different kind of nudity, one we wish they'd retained.

Nevertheless, the book is a solid guide to sex, and one we'd be proud to display on our shelves. If we're going to freak out our (future) children with an indepth, illustrated sex manual, this is exactly the kind we want to do it with.

· Buy The New Joy of Sex (amazon.com)

Bookkake: Where Sticky Pages Are Part Of The Fun

Violet Blue — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:25:44 EDT

And speaking of books (if not testicles), the brand new Bookkake is such a good idea that we're paddling ourselves with our copy of "Porn 101" for not thinking of it first. But we're glad someone did: It's an online sex bookshop, and a damn dirty one too. We just hope they remember to wipe down the books before shipping them out. (bookkake.com - thanks Rachel)

Testicles: It's What's For Dinner

Lux Alptraum — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:10:13 EDT

We're used to receiving a lot of strange emails, but even we did a double take when we saw the subject "world's first testicle cookbook - aphrodisiac" pop up in our inbox. Yet amazingly enough, the email was for real: Ljubomir Erovic, a Serbian gourmet, has partnered with an online publisher to offer up the world's first testicle cookbook as a multimedia ebook — complete with exciting videos demonstrating proper testicle preparation (and not the kind that Gianna Michaels is known for). And not only are testicles a delicacy (not to mention a delicious pizza topping!); as a testosterone rich food, they're also good for getting "in the mood". Provided you can get over the awkwardness of offering your loved one a delicious slice of testicle pie.

· The Testicle Cookbook - Cooking With Balls (book info @ yudu.com)

The Guardian UK looked at the sexual allure ...

Violet Blue — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:35:32 EDT

The Guardian UK looked at the sexual allure of cars this weekend with a piece by the author of "Cars: Freedom, Style, Sex, Power, Motion, Colour, Everything"—complete with references to the smell of leather and hot oil and a list of "The 10 sexiest cars ever", not a single one of which was made past the year 1968. We're really jealous that we never got to do it in the back seat of a 1951 Lancia Aurelia H20 GT all of a sudden. (guardian.co.uk, image via Car Stuck Girls)

Forty-five year old actress Emmanuelle Béart ...

Dashiell Bennett — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 09:54:45 EDT

Forty-five year old actress Emmanuelle Béart is publishing a new book filled with nude photos of herself. No one reads books anymore—why not just put them on MySpace like everyone else? (telegraph.co.uk)

"America Swings"; We Get To Watch

Lux Alptraum — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:45:20 EDT

Across America—from Mahwah, New Jersey, to Pleasonton, California—there's one thing that unites us all: a love of having sex with people who aren't our legally married spouses. Or at least that's the premise of "America Swings," a brand new book by photographer Naomi Harris that's full of dirty pictures of swingers doing the very thing they do best. You may remember Ms. Harris from her behind the scenes look at the porn industry (or from our previous mention of her current project); with our long history of, uh, appreciating her work, we're definitely looking forward to getting our hands on a copy of her latest endeavor. Want to see why we're all hot and bothered? Blackbook has a preview gallery of photos from the book accompanying their review. Who knows—you might have more in common with some of those Red State people than you thought.

· "America Swings" (book info @ taschen.com)
· ‘America Swings’ Gets Down & Dirty (blackbookmag.com)

New Book Does Not Make Us Think About Breasts At All

Dashiell Bennett — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:45:00 EDT

A new photo book called "One-Track Mind" claims to offer "a revealing insight into the obsessed minds of men," but frankly ... we don't get it. How can you learn anything about men just by looking at pictures of nice round objects that maybe have little protuberances on the end of them? What the heck are they trying to say? Just because the world is filled with round heaving bumps that cleave together in pairs and tantalizingly glisten as they rise and fall with each passionate breath, that doesn't have anything to us. It sounds like a pretty silly idea for a boob ... er, book.

· One-Track Mind (creativereview.co.uk)
· One Track Mind by Tony Davidson (Amazon.co.uk)

There may be an explanation for Franz Kafka's ...

Dashiell Bennett — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 01:10:28 EDT

There may be an explanation for Franz Kafka's interest in hardcore smut: writing dirty stories has long been an excellent way for starving writers to pay the bills. Which is the reason why we publish all our non-porn writing under the pseudonym Nicholas Sparks. (guardian.co.uk)

Tristan Taormino Does L.A.

DCypher — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:30:00 EDT

With a long list of sexy books and even sexier movies exploring everything from oral sex to anal sex to squirting and back again, it’s no surprise that we're such fans of sexy sexpert Tristan Taormino—and now we have a chance to ~~stalk~~ see her in person as she reads from her latest tome on open relationships at Book Soup in West Hollywood this Wednesday. There'll be some quality Q&A time as part of the program, and we’re hoping that she brings plenty of flow charts and illustrations along too. Lots and lots of illustrations. (AVN)

Existentialist bug fan Franz Kafka apparently ...

Dashiell Bennett — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:33:00 EDT

Existentialist bug fan Franz Kafka apparently left behind a rather sizable collection of hardcore porn stories that “academics have pretended did not exist," because they don't want to sully the reputation of a sad, depressive whose sole preoccupation was the pain and futility of modern life. Not surprisingly, the smut is described as "dark" and "unpleasant" ... perhaps even Kafkaesque! (timesonline.co.uk)

Cum On Their Tattoos (But Not On Their Books)

Jonnobot — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:20:50 EDT

Fleshbot Supreme Commandress Joanna Angel ~~has ordered us to tell you~~ would like you to know that (1) she and some of her Burning Angels (as well as superstar photo mistress The Lovely Brenda) will be signing copies of their new book in Manhattan and Paramus, New Jersey today and tomorrow, and (2) the fourth installment of "Cum On My Tattoo" was released this week. Just don't get those two things confused, because we'e pretty sure that cumming on the pages of a nice coffee table book featuring hundreds of photos of hot babes with tattoos will lead to nothing but heartbreak. (xbiz.com + burningmerch.com; order "Burning Angel: The Book" @ Amazon)

Get "Spanked"!

Lux Alptraum — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:05:00 EDT

Chuck Palahniuk's not the only one who can do a sexy book trailer. Check out the video promo for "Spanked: Red Cheeked Erotica," an erotica anthology about (what else?) spanking. Editrix Rachel Kramer Bussel reads samples from the book, asses get slapped, and well ... we'll let you watch the video, but you can probably figure out the rest.

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· Buy Spanked (amazon.com)
· Rachel Kramer Bussel (lustylady.blogspot.com)

You no longer need to waste time at Sunday ...

Dashiell Bennett — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 10:27:20 EDT

You no longer need to waste time at Sunday School scouring the Bible for all those dirty passages about prostitutes and orgies and virginal daughters offered up to randy kings. "The Uncensored Bible" gets rid of all those long-winded "thou shalt nots" and just cuts right to the good stuff—which leaves you a lot more time for spilling your seed. (time.com + Amazon; thumb via theologian Jenna Haze)

An online bookseller acquired a huge collection ...

Lux Alptraum — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:05:07 EDT

An online bookseller acquired a huge collection of books for cheap, only to discover that (suprise!) many of them had been hollowed out and filled with porn; he's now trying to figure out what to do with all the nudie pix. Might we suggest donating them to us? We can always use some help filling in the holes in our library. (booksaga.blogspot.com, via kottke.org)

An Ode To The "Treasure Chests"

Dashiell Bennett — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:50:17 EDT

Some of you may have a dirty old uncle who likes to sit you down on a rainy afternoon and tell you dirty limericks about women with three breasts, or maybe boobs that sprout somewhere below the belly button. The poetry might be hilarious—but of course you didn't think creatures like that actually existed, right? Turns out that you were wrong: back in the 1960s, two enterprising wordsmiths compiled a book called (what else) "Treasure Chests" which contained photos of these unique specimens along with poems explaining their stories. After looking through the entire thing online, we're convinced these fantastical females really do exist somewhere. After all, good old Uncle Bruce wouldn't lie to us, would he?

· "Treasure Chests" (landoftuh.com, via ponyXpress)

"America Swings": We Like To Share

Dashiell Bennett — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 12:55:30 EDT

Hey, America. Do you like to swing? Of course you do—because everyone knows that even though we like to pretend we're all prim and proper, our nation is really just one big wife-swapping freak fest! Well, one photographer got tired of hearing about it and decided to prove it: Naomi Harris, who took a behind the scenes look at the porn industry a couple of years ago, headed out into the vast unknown wilderness of that places called "Middle America" (you know, that big empty spot between the two oceans) and came back with a new book of photographs documenting average folks who lead somewhat non-average sex lives. She even went so far as to hang out in the nude with her subjects in order to get pictures of these wildcats in their natural habitat! The book will be released by Taschen in the fall, which means we may have to wait a few months before finding out the answer to this question: if this country is filled with an army of hidden swingers, then how come nobody is watching "Swingtown"? (Oh, right ... they're probably too busy with that other stuff.)

· "America Swings - The secret life of America's Bible Belt" (sugarcut.com)
· Naomi Harris Photo (naomiharris.com)

Deep Inside "Phone Sex" Operators: "It Is My Job To Indulge Their Fantasy"

Jonnobot — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:35:20 EDT

It would have been too easy for photographer Phillip Toledano simply to have taken pictures of phone sex operators, assembled them into book form, and called it a day: after all, even the most enthusiastic of phone sex fans must be aware on some level of the disconnect between the fantasy they're creating with whoever's on the other end of the line and the reality of what that person is really like, and a bunch of images that just illustrated that concept visually over and over again would've gotten boring pretty quickly. What makes Toledano's "Phone Sex" so interesting, though, is that that he gives each of his subjects an opportunity to discuss their careers in their own words—and while we could've done without the free verse formatting the tales they have to tell are pretty fascinating, from observations that phone sex is just another form of customer service to one woman's story about a particular fantasy one of her callers had involving some undigested asparagus. But we'll let you read that one for yourself.

· Phillip Toledano's "Phone Sex" (phonesexthebook.com)
· "Offbeat Artist: The Faces of Phone Sex Operators" (digitaljournal.com)
· Phillip Toledano Photography (mrtoledano.com)

Photographer To Naked Models: "Do It Yourself"

Dashiell Bennett — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:39:51 EDT

We're big fans of the DIY ethic, mostly because whenever our bosses ask us to stay a little late and put in some extra work our response is usually, "Do it yourself!" But there's a different kind of DIY that we're also fans of, and it's in the same style as the homemade self-sufficient photography that made MySpace famous. Photographer Uwe Ommer devoted a whole book to the self-shot naked portrait, helping his models to create nude photographs that they snapped on their own. Ommer obviously lent a helping hand with the setup and lighting, so the results are miles above the pouty-look-in-the-mirror snapshots that are a staple of social networking profile pics. But the concept remains the same—leave a beautiful girl alone with a camera and see what she can create. We don't want to ruin the surprise for you, but it's pretty hot.

· "Do It Yourself" - Photos de Uwe Ommer (uweommer.eu)
· Uwe Ommer — "Do It Yourself" (book @ taschen.com)

Max Hardcore Jury Deliberating Over Book Deal?

Dashiell Bennett — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:47:50 EDT

Speaking of pornographers in trouble, did Max Hardcore not exactly get a fair shake in his obscenity trial? Jurors refused to talk to reporters after returning their guilty verdict because they had already agreed to band together and write a book about the trial. First of all, that hardly leaves them unbiased (or ethical), and second—who the hell wants to read a book about jury duty? Isn't there some way we can get out of that? (tampabay.com + tbo.com)

Could you have sex every single day for a ...

Dashiell Bennett — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:40:40 EDT

Could you have sex every single day for a year? Or even for 101 straight days? Before you say "Fuck yes!", remember that there's one catch—you have to do it with the person you're married to. (But you can't write a book about it, because two couples already did that and they've both come out at the same time.) What will these crazy sexual adventurers think of next? (nytimes.com)

Burning Angel: The Book

Gram Ponante — Fri, 30 May 2008 08:30:09 EDT

We laughed when we first heard that Burning Angel was coming out with a 360-page coffeetable book. "Why read about sex when you could be out doing it?" (Then we laughed again.) Shot by Burning Angel go-to photographer The Lovely Brenda Staudenmeier, "Burning Angel" features a foreword by (Fleshbot Supreme Commandress) Joanna Angel as well as more than 700 compromising—by which we mean shot in Brooklyn—photos of Burning Angel favorites like Pixie Pearl, Gia Paloma, Riley Mason, Charlotte Stokely, and Angel herself. A party celebrating the U.S. release of the Goliath title will be held at Brooklyn's Savalas this Saturday.

· Burning Angel (burningangel.com)
· Brenda Staudenmeier (thelovelybrenda.com)
· Goliath Books (burningangel.com)
· Order "Burning Angel" (amazon.com)

Flesh Flicks: Anna Malle Is Fundamental

Dashiell Bennett — Fri, 23 May 2008 17:06:51 EDT

You know what is the problem with America? Nobody reads anymore! Sure there are libraries and bookstores and everyone you know carries them around and puts them on shelves and pretends to know a lot about what's in them, but there's only one thing that books get used for—to attract and impress the opposite sex. In fact, if you have enough books in your life you might attract a whole mess of opposite sexed people, who might turn your quaint independent bookstore into a den of sin. (Come for the hardcovers, stay for the fucking!) See how these gentleman carelessly toss aside treasured reference materials in order to make more room for the late, great Anna Malle? And is that the Governor we see in there too? Maybe he should have picked up that copy of "Hookers For Dummies."

. . .

· Bookstore Gangbang Part 1 (Megarotic)

. . .

· Part 2 (Megarotic)

. . .

· Part 3 (Megarotic)

. . .

· Part 4 (Megarotic)

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· Part 5 (Megarotic)

. . .

· Part 6 (Megarotic)

* * * * *

Previously: Flesh Flicks Archives

This Week In Book Promos: The Art Of The Blowjob

Lux Alptraum — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:50:55 EDT

Think Chuck Palahniuk's the only one who can make a viral video to promo his book? Think again: Chuck's faux porn has nothing on the sexy stylings of this promo for "Licking After You," an e-book that aims to educate couples about the finer points of giving head. The advantage of course, is that the book and the promo contain actual sex. Animated sex, but with special effects what they are these days, you can hardly tell the difference.

· Oral Sex Art (YouPorn)

And speaking of bad videos: if you've been ...

Violet Blue — Tue, 20 May 2008 14:40:26 EDT

And speaking of bad videos: if you've been following the so-bad-it's-hilarious series of faux retro porn videos being released to promote Chuck Palahniuk's new book "Snuff", you won't want to miss today's short but sweet final entry "The Twilight Bone". Hey, if you survived "The Wizard of Ass" and "Chitty Chitty Gang Bang" you really have nothing left to lose—except of course, your soul and/or your sex drive. (YouTube)

Everything You Wanted To Know About "Sex: How To Do Everything"

Lux Alptraum — Fri, 16 May 2008 11:50:23 EDT

Given the fact that we here at Fleshbot try to cover as many bases as possible—and despite that first person plural voice we insist on using most of the time—it's not too surprising that our editorial staff finds itself experiencing a difference of opinion every now and then. (For example: some of us crave the newfangled taste of a ass smoothie, while others are only satisfied by a classic dirtpipe milkshake). Our latest object of disagreement is the new coffee table extravaganza by "self-proclaimed Emily Posts of the modern bedroom" Em and Lo, "Sex: How To Do Everything", and not just because we fought amongst ourselves for a first look when the review copy arrived at Fleshbot Central: while some of us were immediately won over by the beautiful pictures and lovely layout, others were left a little limp on the whole project. Read some of our pros and cons (and get a peek at some of those photos) after the jump.

Pro: With page after page of beautiful photography by celebrated British erotica/fashion photographer Rankin and a nicely designed layout, this is a sex-related coffee table book that's actually sexy. You might even be tempted to leave it on your coffee table when company comes over—which, given the sad state of sex education in this country, would probably be a good thing.

Con: Those photos might be beautiful and all, but despite some attempt at racial diversity they get pretty homogenous after a while (and not just because everyone is heterosexual): the models are uniformly young and pretty and slender, and we know there are more than just young and pretty and slender people who have sex. It's like overdosing on an endless lowfat Pinkberry sundae: all that trendy, bland sweetness can get pretty cloying. Give us those dumpy, hairy hippies in "The Joy Of Sex" any day.

Pro: It's a fun read. Em and Lo have made their names with friendly and honest advice, so it's no surprise that their signature tone and sense of humor is present in this book. If you somehow thought that sex books always had to be dry, boring, and technical, this is a book to change your mind.

Con: About those pictures again? Playful as they are, they're also pretty darn tepid for a sex manual: there are naked boobs galore, but except for a purely anatomical shot or two you have to look long and hard for a glimpse of a dick—never mind a hard dick or even the barest hint of penetration. We know they're aiming for "tasteful", but a sex book without actual sex in it starts looking sort of like an American Apparel catalog. (Minus the apparel, of course.)

Pro: It's extensive. After so many years in the sex advice business, Em and Lo have amassed a lot of expertise about what makes people tick (and moan and sigh), and they share a tremendous amount of that knowledge here. With nine detailed sections, they leave almost no stone unturned. Hey, a book that devotes an entire section to handjobs and an exhaustive guide to the different kinds of sex toys on the market these days must have something to teach you.

Con: Encyclopaedic as it might be, it's hard to tell just exactly who this book is supposed to be for. If you're already sexually active, it's unlikely you're going to interrupt a session with your (probably white and slender) partner to look up a new position or learn how to put on a condom, and if you're not already having sex with someone ... well, wouldn't a book like this be sort of frustrating and/or besides the point? And as for people on either side of that fence who just want a resource for general sex advice and resources: there's this cool thing called the interweb where you can look up pretty much anything you like (including plenty of Em & Lo's archived material), won't cost you $25, and won't get sticky when you spill lube all over it. (Unless you spill it on your keyboard, in which case you're probably beyond the help of whatever a book like this could tell you anyway.)

So there you have it. Now excuse us while we get back to arguing about who gets to take the book home with them over the weekend. (Hey, at least we agreed that the pictures were pretty.)

· Buy "Sex: How To Do Everything" (amazon.com)
· Em and Lo (dailybedpost.com)
· Photos by Rankin (rankin.co.uk)

"Chitty Chitty Gang Bang": Chuck Palahniuk Goes Deeper Into Cassie Wright

Violet Blue — Thu, 15 May 2008 12:50:15 EDT

With the imminent release of "Fight Club" author Chuck Palahniuk's book "Snuff" it's never been more clear to us that (a) his marketeers have some really excellent drug connections, and (b) Palahniuk's obsession with fictional aging porn star Cassie Wright is as surreal as his novels. After the awesome fake retro "Wizard Of Ass" trailer comes "Chitty Chitty Gang Bang", another wacky sendup of classic porn tropes complete with bad dialogue, scary sound effects and ridiculous scenarios. Which is nothing like real porn, of course. (Maybe it's better?)

Still, to get the full effect of the Palahniuk's book (whose title may or may not give away the ending), one only need look at the author's bizarre "interviews" with present-day Cassie Wright to realize that being in a Palahniuk novel might just be like being inside his actual brain. Watch the faux "Chitty Chitty Gang Bang" trailer below, plus a video where Palahniuk himself interviews a Divine-inspired Cassie Wright as she reveals how "Chitty Chitty" was her "chance to do real acting". (Ed note: So why hasn't anyone made a real porn movie called "World Whore 3: The Whore To End All Whores" anyway?)

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Fake trailer: "Chitty Chitty Gang Bang"

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Chuck Palahniuk Interviews Cassie Wright, part 1:

· Cassie Wright (myspace.com)
· Chuck Palahniuk (chuckpalahniuk.net)
· "Snuff" by Chuck Palahniuk (Amazon)

25 Things To Help Dirty Your Home

Jonnobot — Thu, 15 May 2008 12:20:26 EDT

The design connoisseurs at Crib Candy present a collection of 25 pieces of "furniture, decoration and accessories that will send the right message when you bring someone back to your crib" (i.e., "I am flush enough to be able to afford over a thousand dollars on a custom built mahogany and bamboo silk sex chair, and therefore you should boink me.") Of course, we here at Fleshbot Central are already up to our dirtpipes in sexy design books, bug porn, and infidelity kits ... but if anyone wants to pick us up some public sex-themed planters or a set of boobshelves, we couldn't think of a more appropriate hostess gift the next time you come visit.

· "25 sexy times at home" (cribcandy.com - thanks Sturtle)

"Ladies Of The Night": What Does Gene Simmons Know About Whoring?

Dashiell Bennett — Wed, 14 May 2008 12:40:37 EDT

Prostitution has been written about by everyone from the Apostles to Shakespeare to Charlie Sheen, but you can take all that previous pontification and cram it: Gene Simmons is about to have his say. The God of Thunder and noted romancer has a new book coming out called "Ladies of the Night" where he will share his "own unique philosophy about the inception and legacy of prostitution." (And not a minute too soon!)

The enthusiastic press release also promises that Gene's "entirely new take" on the subject (we're guessing he's for it?) will "spark debate, though we're not sure how that's possible: once the Demon speaks, the debate is over! Read on to learn how you can win a special message from Gene, but what you won't learn is the answer to our most pressing question about sex work. When you're hooking up with a lady of the night yourself, do you leave your pants on or take them off? Hopefully, the answer is in the book somewhere too.

. . .

Phoenix Books and Gene Sim mons, the New York Times best-selling author, reality TV star, and KISS front man, present an entertaining mix of narrative history and Simmons' own unique philosophy about the inception and legacy of prostitution with his enlightening new book, Ladies of the Night, poised to hit bookstores on July 8th, 2008. Beautifully illustrated in lush, velvety binding, Ladies of the Night is an entirely new take on a traditionally taboo topic and promises to spark debate.
In connection with the book's release, Phoenix Books is giving one lucky fan the chance to win a personalized voice mail greeting from Gene Sim mons himself! Contestants are asked to go to www.geneSimmons.com and reply to the following:

LADIES OF THE NIGHT—The Oldest Profession in the World: Good or bad? Tell us. And, tell us why.

The essay (200 words or less) and entry form will need to be sent via e-mail to phoenix.books@phoenixnm.com. The contest is open to legal U.S. residents 18 years or older, and the deadline for entering is June 8th, 2008.

Of the entries, Gene Simmons will select ten (10) essays, from which he will pick one (1) grand prize winner and two (2) runners up. The grand prize winner will receive a digital WAV file recording to use as his/her outgoing voice mail message. All runners up will win an autographed book from Gene and a selection of amazing Gene Sim mons/A&E Gene Sim mons' Family Jewels swag.

On May 6th, 2008, the making of Ladies of the Night was featured on A&E's Gene Simmons' Family Jewels, where the legendary rock star and his unconventional family are back and better than ever for season 3 of the hit reality series.

The episode can be seen at the following:

Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro3fmleNPtg
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikWs0wr5y1o
Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3p3gn6AKOM

Chuck Palahniuk's "Snuff" And The Legend Of Cassie Wright

Dashiell Bennett — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:54:06 EDT

Reading a book by Chuck Palahniuk—author of cult classics like "Fight Club" and "Lullaby"—has occasionally been described as a mindfuck. Time-bending stories of vividly bizarre characters in surreal situations is kind of his specialty. For his latest novel, however, he's moved on from mind fucking to just, well ... fucking. "Snuff" is the story of veteran pornstar Cassie Wright, who hopes to end her career with a big bang. A 600-person gangbang to be specific. How and why she accomplishes this, you'll have to read the book to discover, but we are amused by the online efforts to imagine what Cassie's career might have looked like in the real world. We don't know where she would have ended up in the firmament of today's pornstars, but we do know that we would like to have seen her interpretation of Dorothy in "The Wizard of Ass." (See the "trailer" below.) Who says that literature is dead?

...

· Cassie Wright (myspace.com)
· Chuck Palahniuk (chuckpalahniuk.net)
· "Snuff" by Chuck Palahniuk (Amazon)

Tracking Down Cougars In The Wild

Dashiell Bennett — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:00:52 EDT

The cougar is generally considered a predatory animal, stalking down unsuspecting prey at hotel bars and fraternity beer pong tournaments. But for those who are actually hoping to get snared in one of their traps, it helps to take a proactive approach. Sites like Urban Cougar have been showing you how to spot these ferocious beasts in their natural habitat fpr a while now, but now that cougar watching has become such a full-fledged industry the hunters have become the hunted. Dating sites unite older ladies with horny young cubs, steamy novels document their safaris, books and websites provide tips for predator and prey, and a growing number of youngish men consider it their duty to hang out at swanky bars and wait for women to buy them drinks. (And then hopefully turn them into kept sex toys. Dare to dream!) One even has the brilliant concept of driving around the country in a bus and filming his adventures in picking up older women. Hey, that sounds like a great idea for a porn site!

· "On the Prowl with the Cougar Hunters" (bostonmagazine.com, via michaelorell.tumblr.com)

. . .

We're totally confused that there even exists ...

Jonnobot — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:40:40 EDT

We're totally confused that there even exists erotic literature for Amazon's Kindle reading device. never mind that some of it is apparently showing up on best seller lists. We tried one of those things recently and can definitely say that they are really hard to use with one hand. (alleyinsider.com)

When "Bad Sex" Happens To Good People

Gram Ponante — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:00:44 EDT

Statistically speaking, the more sex one has the less chance it will be bad, even if the bloom might fade from the rose after Partner 100 or Client 9. Perhaps this is why the anecdotes in "Bad Sex," a collection of first-person accounts culled by the editors of Nerve.com, just don't seem all that awful on the (w)hole.

Helpfully arranged in sections with titles like "Bodily Fluids" and "Infidelity" and labeled with funny graphics reminiscent of road signs, "Bad Sex" nevertheless doesn't offer much shock value and, what's worse, provides few tasty examples of good sex before that, too, went bad. Instead, readers are left with a series of literate, astute, and blunted stories of lust gone wrong.

Exceptions include Monica Drake's "The Splatter Artist," a bittersweet tale of an ejaculator both premature and prolific, Lisa Gabriele's "Dead Wood" (you do feel sorry for her) because not only does she lose her boyfriend but she also comes down with a "battered pussy," and the one cringeworthy story in a book tnat should be full of them, Neal Pollack's shamefaced "Man's Best Friend" (it involves a different kind of battered pussy).

Even though I was disappointed with this volume of anti-erotica, I look forward to a sequel with the kinks worked in.

· Nerve (nerve.com)
· "Bad Sex: We Did It, so You Won't Have To" (amazon.com)

Three years after we first posted something ...

Jonnobot — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:15:21 EDT

Three years after we first posted something about it, it's nice to know that Tom Brinkmann's "Bad Mags" survey of pulp periodicals will finally be available next month. Hey, we've waited this long for a full-size reproduction of that "Weird Sex" alien abduction cover; what's another couple of weeks? (badmags.com + headpress.com, via Gawker)

Swedish Fetish (And We Don't Mean Your Thing For Leggy Blondes)

Dashiell Bennett — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:31:00 EDT

That's right, Swedish Fetish is not a book about people who get turned on Ikea sofas or delicious little meatballs or eating delicious little meatballs while sitting on Ikea sofas (although maybe some of the people photographed here do get their kicks that way)—instead, it's a photographic look at the fetish scene in Sweden. Compiled over two years by photographer Andrea Belluso, these beautiful photos capture everyday Swedish folks enjoying their favorite pastimes, whether it's skin-tight latex uniforms or shibari bondage or just sitting around being looking sexy, which is something many Swedish people do very well. Maybe you didn't think the Swedes were into the kinky stuff, but just because their furniture is easily assembled that doesn't mean their sex lives have to be.

· "Swedish Fetish" (belluso.com, via Otomano)

World's First 4-D Sex Tape! (At Least We Think Someone Is Having Sex Here)

Dashiell Bennett — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:00:00 EDT

Mary Roach's "Bonk" (not to be confused with this or this) takes a look at the research of sexual physiology—in other words, what's really going on with our bodies when we fuck, and believe it or not no one really knows for sure. From Leonardo Da Vinci's "coital interlocking" theory to the frustrated egg breakers of today, lots of people have tried and failed to figure out exactly how Bolt A fits into Slot B. The latest attempt involves 4-D ultrasound movies that can look inside us in real time, and it also involves Mary and her husband, who became the first sexual guinea pigs to be filmed internally while getting it on. She can explain the whole thing better in the video below, and though it may seem a little dry we promise you'll be rewarded with some hot 4-D porn if you watch the whole thing. (Unfortunately, like most ultrasounds, you still need a doctor to tell you where the penis is. Still!)

. . .

· Sex Research (slatev.com, via dailybedpost.com)
· Buy: Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex (amazon.com)

Backroads Of Vegas: Joe McGinniss Jr.'s "The Delivery Man"

Gram Ponante — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:06:39 EDT

Like pre-Katrina New Orleans, modern Las Vegas has built its appeal on shaky foundations. In Joe McGinniss Jr.'s book "The Delivery Man," young Vegas natives pin their hopes on self-delusion but make their money on the vices of others. The title character is an always-aspiring artist in love with the prostitute he shuttles to the propped up desert mansions and hotel suites of her clients, and the book is filled with foreboding in the shadow of the casino lights. Published this past January and an excellent read for the Vegas tourist curious about the humanity behind the guilty pleasures, "The Delivery Man" is McGinniss' first book.

· Joe McGinniss (joemcginnissjr.com)
· Buy "The Delivery Man" (Amazon)