Review: Best Sex Writing of the Year: The Year's Most Challenging and Provocative Essays on the Subject of Sex

Best Sex Writing of the Year: The Year's Most Challenging and Provocative Essays on the Subject of Sex by Jon Pressick

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book is a collection of essays from sex writers. They could be porn stars, authors, journalist or bloggers. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few others. This review was hard for me to write because I didn't pay attention to the book blurb. I thought this was going to be fiction. It is not. It's more sexual experiences, editorials and musings. Some of the essays are insightful. Others are a bit too whiny for me. It feels as if they have a huge chip on their should.

There is one story which turned me off completely and is the one I remember the most. There were a few good ones I should remember, but this complaining tale taints this entire book. I'm not a shrink nor did I take more than one psychology class. What I am is a pragmatist who happens to be a female minority. Yes, I get discrimination at a personal level. And yet, I don't have this inadequacy when I'm around white people.

This is how white supremacy operates: it offers you a promise of acceptance, always at a distance, so that you are always running after it. It is always an abusive dynamic: it creates dynamics where your entire self worth is predicated on the very people who hurt you the most. -- (loc. 683-685)

My thought, if it is really this bad for a person, move away from white people. Move to a country where the people look like you on the outside. Unfortunately, I don't think there will be much of a difference, because this isn't a problem with skin tone. This is a problem of insecurity and self-worth. When I was a child in junior high, I felt this white supremacy to a degree. Then one day I grew up and realized, I didn't give a damn what they thought and I don't need their acceptance anyway. They can run after me instead.

Moving on to another article which provides a golden nugget of information. It mentions an international celebration day that I am completely unaware of and wish to learn more.

Happy International Fisting Day! You ready for a monster post? Well, grab your lube, lie back, and relax. It’s late on Thursday night and I’m typing this at one of my favorite bars, El Rio. San Francisco felt its second earthquake today. (loc. 1141-1143)

May is international masturbation month. Now there is a fisting day? How did I not know about this one? This year marks the 5th anniversary. Get your hands warmed up and ready to plunge - http://fistingday.com/about/. Circle October 25th as people around the world will be avidly showing their fist pumps.

Tell Me You Want Me by Mollena Williams is one I enjoyed reading. She captures a facet of submission that speaks to me.

So. What about submitting, what about service, what about taking a thorough flogging, what about menial chores, what about being useful, is sexy? Why is it eroticized? What makes it hot? In a word? Passion. The first time I looked into the eyes of someone who was using me with a seeming disregard for my own satisfaction, saw the heat and fire in the eyes of my lover as they took what they wanted from me and effortlessly bent me to their will, when I saw how ferociously and almost dangerously aroused they became? That passion pulled me abruptly from the realm of what I had known about sex into a new place. (loc. 1254-1258)

took what they wanted from me and effortlessly bent me to their will. When the dominant enjoys what they are doing, I can so relate and enjoy it too. *shivers* For me, it's about them more so than me.

There are several more articles of note which is why I still recommend reading the book. Only one of the essays can be skipped because it comes across like a pity party that I have no wish to attend. Of the remaining articles, some are provocative. Some are enlightening. For the most part the essays may give the reader a new perspective they did not have before.

*provided by Edelweiss



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