Recommended Books

1. The Survivor's Guide to Sex: How to have an empowered sex life after child sexual abuse

by Staci Haines. San Francisco, CA: Cleis Press, 1999.

This book is a wonderful sex-positive manual for all of us who have suffered some form of sexual abuse in childhood. It is full of practical wisdom, and will be an invaluable resource and personal growth tool for many individuals in the years to come.

2. Porn 101: Eroticism, Pornography, and the First Amendment

edited by James Elias, Veronica Elias, Vern Bullough, Gwen Brewer, Jeffrey Douglas, and Will Jarvis. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1999.

This collection of forty-nine essays by academics, sex activists, and entrepreneurs offers a thorough examination of the history, characteristics, and contemporary controversies about porn. An excellent education for anyone unfamiliar with this aspect of erotology and concerned about the preservation of the First Amendment.

3. Games of Venus: An Anthology of Greek and Roman Erotic Verse from Sappho to Ovid

edited by Peter Bing and Rip Cohen. New York NY: Routledge, 1991.

Perhaps you have to be able to enjoy classic verse to appreciate this work, but some of the material is wonderfully evocative and provocatively explicit.

4. Live Sex Acts: Women Performing Erotic Labor

by Wendy Chapkis. New York, NY: Routledge.

Although Professor Chapkis received the Midwest Institute of Sexology's first ever award for Outstanding Research in Clinical and Educational Sexology, by some oversight this important sociological and psychological study has not yet been mentioned in these Director's Dozen listings. This is a wonderful research report in readable essay form. It goes to the reality of the lives of women who do sex work in various forms, and it balances deftly the arguments that have divided the field of feminist scholarship on this issue.

5. The Multi-Orgasmic Man: How any man can experience multiple orgasms and dramatically enhance his sexual relationship

by Mantak Chia and Douglas Arava. San Francisco, CA: Harper Collins, 1996.

Mantak Chia has long been a respected teacher of taoist/tantric sexual wisdom, and this book condenses his teachings in a manner that will be an accessible blessing for men and those who love them.

6. Lesbian Sex

by JoAnn Loulan. Duluth, MN: Spinsters Ink Press, 1984.

This book remains a landmark volume courageously written by a great sexological educator and activist.

7. Sexy Origins and Intimate Things: The rites and rituals of straights, gays, bis, drags, trans, virgins, and others

by Charles Panati. New York, NY: Penguin.

By the author of Sacred Origins of Profound Things, this is fun reading and highly illuminating.

8. The Power of Touch: The basis for spiritual health, intimacy, and emotional wellbeing

by Phyllis Davis. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 1999.

The most important volume since Ashley Montagu's Touching, this book explores the importance of touch and the ways in which so many of us are seriously touch-deprived. Davis' writing style combines theory with practical suggestion.

9. The Lifestyle: A look at the erotic rites of swingers

by Terry Gould. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 1999.

This is a journalistic exploration of the contemporary world of the lifestyle. It is comparatively balanced in its presentation, and offers what it claims: a look at those of us who enjoy these activities.

10. Sons, Lovers, and Fathers: Understanding Male Sexuality

by Didier Dumas. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson.

Written by a French psychoanalytically-trained psychotherapist, this is a wonderful essay, readable for all. It explores with impressive insight and depth questions that are often overlooked. An example is the section on what testicles mean to men. Dumas often makes unsubstantiated claims, but is consistently thoughtful and provocative.

11. Big Big Love: A Sourcebook on Sex for People of Size and Those Who Love Them

by Hanne Blank. Emoryville, CA: Greenery Press.

This will be greatly appreciated by people of size and those who love them for it addresses all the topics and issues that have been concealed beneath fear, shame and inhibition.

12. The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating

by David Buss. New York, NY: Basic Books, 1994.

This has become a classic work of scholarship addressing the evolutionary roots and the anthropological variability of human mating practices. Many of Buss' arguments are still open to debate, but this is required reading for students of sexology.

13. Sexual Radiance: A 21-day Program for Vitality and Sensuality

by Susan Taylor. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press, 1998.

Combining breathwork, nutrition and exercise, this is a charming program for biopsychosocial health.