(Greenery, 1998), paperback, $11.95
Electrical engineer "Uncle Abdul" has written the first book on the use of electricity in bdsm play. It is a topic long in need of book-length treatment. Since you should not be playing with something you don't understand, Abdul begins with a good overview of electricity and basic circuits. He then describes its effect on the human body and safe use. This information comprises the majority of the book, and it is essential knowledge for people playing with electricity. While this book is aimed at people new to electrical play, it would't be a bad idea for the more experienced to read it as well. Abdul's explanations are easy to follow and should pose no problems even for the most technically unsophisticated. There are good diagrams and illustrations of his key points as well as a number of brief sexual fantasies involving electrical play. The book concludes with descriptions of electrical play in scenes and a quiz over what you have read. There is a brief bibliography for further reading, but no index.
(Daedalus, 1993), paperback, $14.95.
Psychotherapist, community leader, and leather icon, Baldwin is one of the most respected members of the leather community. This book is a compilation of many of his columns from Drummer magazine. They cover a wide range of topics including the history and problems of the bdsm community, bdsm as a transformative experience, and switching as wells as a lot of advice on relationships and improving your scenes. His best essays deal with the psychological and emotional aspects of bdsm, especially those that arise in the midst of a scene. His advice is common sense and practical, as in his essay "Let's Not Take the Olde Guard Judges Too Seriously." This book is full of good advice for both the novice and experienced bdsmer.
A former Mr. NLA, he has also written a guide to leather contests that is invaluable for those interested in entering one. The Leather Contest Guide : A Handbook for Promoters, Contestants, and Judges (Daedalus, 1993), $12.95
(Daedalus, 1994), paperback, 217 pages, 14.95.
This book is a welcome addition to this category as it focuses on the needs of advanced practitioners. Bean draws from his many articles in DungeonMaster, Drummer, the Sandmutopia Guardian, and his long experience in the scene to craft a superb book. He is without a doubt the best writer on the psychological aspects of bdsm. His article in Sandmutopia Guardian # 11 on the "Art of Accepting Pain" is a classic and perhaps the best explanation of how pain is processed in a scene. Leathersex continues in this tradition with excellent sections on long-term S/M relationships, edgeplay, and a variety of heavier techniques.
Baen has followed this excellent book with a compilation of his answers to questions he's been asked about bdsm over the years:
Leathersex Q&A : Questions About Leathersex and the Leather Lifestyle Answered by Joseph W. Bean
and more recently with a book on Flogging that expands on his previous writings on the topic.
Price: $7.16
(Blue Moon, Reprint, 1996), $8.95
Originally published by Grove Press in 1974 this was the first book to present a friendly and practical discussion of bdsm from the perspective of a heterosexual couple. It was also one of the first books to demand the recognition of bdsm activities as safe and legal. In addition to advice on putting together a scene, it contains a good, though obviously dated, survey of the psychological literature on bdsm as well as excerpts from hard to find erotica like Edith Cadivec's Confessions and Experiences. Despite the recent explosion in bdsm publishing, many of these are still out of print. This is the only place to get a taste of them. This book is fascinating from an historical perspective. While the bdsm community has changed dramatically over the last three decades, what we do and how we play has changed hardly at all. Their advice on bdsm within marriage is as good today as it was 25 years ago. So too does much of the other material in the book, including advice on making your own toys--a necessity then, but a fun and rewarding option today.
[For the full text of this review see SandMUtopian Guardian # 27]
Trevor Jacques, et al., On the Safe Edge
(Alternate Sources, 1993), paperback, 300 pages, $19.95
This book has become the final source of bdsm safety and first aid information. It covers everything from the mildest of scenes to heavy bloodletting, electricity, catheters and other exotica. If you're thinking of trying it, it's almost definitely in there. Stds are covered in good detail as are controlled substances. There are extensive appendices, glossaries and bibliography, but it could use a better index and better illustrations. In addition to safety information it includes suggestions for a cheap toybag, the most complete listing of hanky codes I've seen, leather bar etiquette, and a number of other useful details. The authors discuss how to pace a scene, coming out kinky, bdsm roles and responsibilities, the place of fantasy, and a number of other scene-related topics. It is a book everyone who engages in bdsm should read.
Price: $7.95
(Masquerade, 1997), paperback, 320 pages, $7.95.
Famous for his Gor novels, John Norman's recently republished Imaginitive Sex leaves much to be desired. Rather than a well-rounded how-to manual, it is simply a collection of fifty-three fantasy ideas to spice up your sex life. Most of them are fairly ordinary, such as "captured spy" and the like. This was actually a great disapointment to me. As a teenager I used to consider ordering the book through the mail from its publisher, DAW (it was advertized in all the Gor books), but I assumed that DAW would somehow figure out that I was an innocent youngster who shouldn’t be reading those sorts of books and refuse to send it. Had I ordered it and read it, it would have been a major let down. Still, if you're short of ideas, you can probably pick up a few here. Pat Califia wrote the introduction to this new edition, and her take on Norman is quite surprising.
Price: $11.96
(Daedalus, 1994), $14.95, paperback.
Rinella, long a columnist for Gay Chicago Magazine, has drawn on his published articles to produce a rather mediocre book. It is heavily oriented toward gay men, with little acknowledgment that other people enjoy this lifestyle. His literature list, for example, is almost entirely gay male. Each of the forty articles on a diverse array of topics stands well on its own, but most are fairly superficial. There's a lot of rhetoric ("proper technique and the right attitude" make a leatherman), but less practical advice. His sections on how to become a master and especially how to deal with a scene gone wrong rise above rest of the book and are well worth reading.
Price: $6.50
(Carlyle, reprint, 1995), paperback, 364 pages, $7.99
This is an updating (now getting rather old itself) of what for a very long time was the only readily-available source of information on bdsm. It remains one of the best references on bdsm to this day. Townsend is one of the few authors in the scene who can skillfully blend erotic short fiction into a nonfiction how-to manual, making it both educational and erotic. Keep in mind, though, that he writes strictly from a gay male point of view. If you're interested, Townsend has reissued the original book. It is completely different from LHII and gives an excellent picture of how the old guard gay leather scene functioned before AIDS.
Leatherman's Handbook: The Original
Townsend has compiled his answers to a number of bdsm questions he answered in his regular column in Drummer Magazine into a useful, and often hilarious volume.
Ask Larry (Masquerade, 1995), $12.95
Price: $13.97
(Birch Lane, 1998), hardcover, 228 pages, $19.95.
Varrin, a former professional dominatrix who learned her craft from Ava Taurel, reveals a number of her trade secrets in this superb book. If you're looking to read something by a professional dominatrix that will tell you something of her life, this is the book to get. But it is not a biography. Rather, Varrin uses her experiences as a pro dom as a starting point in her explication of bdsm aimed at dominant women/submissive male couples. She gives advice on how to plan your first scene and how to introduce bdsm to your vanilla partner. All the usual topics are covered including bondage, anatomy, flagellation, and discipline as well several less commonly addressed topics such as foot worship, how to speak like a mistress, and how to draw out your partners and get them to express their desires. This is definitely one of the better books on this topic.
The companion volume, Erotic Surrender: The Sensual Joys of Female Submission, is finally out.