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unladylike's review against another edition
4.0
Who knew there was tentacle porn in Japan back in 1800?
anuwolf's review against another edition
2.0
Although an interesting read, it was a really shallow and superficial opinion piece. For a book titled "25,000 years of erotic freedom", it really only discussed recent English/American viewpoints, and mostly of a heterosexual white male. There's a lot of eroticism in other parts of the world, and from the viewpoints of other genders and orientations, so it was unfortunate to have those completely ignored.
gls_merch's review against another edition
2.75
my thoughts
Let's be clear the arguments made in this book are anecdotal, not research driven. Author Alan Moore posits that societies, where pornography and sex are publicly accepted and treated like art, are healthier and more intellectually creative. He uses examples past and present to make the case. I'm not entirely convinced. Given the controversial nature of the topic YMMV.
Let's be clear the arguments made in this book are anecdotal, not research driven. Author Alan Moore posits that societies, where pornography and sex are publicly accepted and treated like art, are healthier and more intellectually creative. He uses examples past and present to make the case. I'm not entirely convinced. Given the controversial nature of the topic YMMV.
jackflagg's review against another edition
2.0
A brief and irreverent look at smut. It's cute and witty but rather obtuse. I wouldn't say it's as sexist as other reviewers implied, but it sure ain't thorough and balanced... Give this a pass and just go through Wikipedia instead.
neven's review
4.0
Alan Moore is a an imaginative and clever writer, but as he ages and his work suffers both from excesses and shortcomings, the last thing I want to read is his nonfiction essays on controversial topics. So, I approached this essay on the history, function, and hopefully bright future of pornography and erotica with low expectations. And I was pleasantly surprised—it's very readable stuff. His history, psychology, and sociology are all more fiction than non, but he maintains an approachable tone, so this reads more like a general argument than a deeply researched study. His ultimate point is rather sweet: that what's missing between the boob-banning strictness of religious antisexuality and the joyless, abusive churn of the porn industry is sex as a topic of good art. Moore doesn't give any specific examples of how to move in this direction, but I suppose he feels that he has already contributed most of what he can on this subject in his 'Lost Girls'. That book is at times overwhelming, but it generally does what Moore says pornography should ideally do.
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