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An Erotica Guide
IntroductionPornography can be one of the delights of life: it can be arousing, it can be fun figuring out what kinds you like and don't like, it can sometimes be a way for partners to get ideas for new things they might like to try together, and some of it is even good for a laugh. Pornography can enhance masturbation, and masturbation can be used to either learn to reach orgasm more easily, or to learn greater orgasmic control. The problem is that not all porn is well-done, and unlike mainstream movies and books, typically neither your morning newspaper nor everyday conversation will point you towards the good stuff. As such our hope is that the following guide saves you time, by striving to recommend the best of the best of what's currently out there. This guide was last updated on April 19, 2005, and is divided into separate sections for erotic videos, books, comics, audio recordings, and web sites. VideosHow to select and watch adult videos...
How to rent adult videos... Right now, there are two leading options for online video rentals (aka "rent by mail", which for most people will be the most comfortable and convient way to rent adult videos):
Within each section below, we listed first the film which we felt would be the best place to start. Het videos which may be good choices for couples
Het videos with "arty" or "dark" direction or plot
Het videos focusing on the best scenes from just one actress Note: These "Deep Inside" films often features scenes with unusual amounts of chemistry, or scenes with the actresses' real-life partners, since the actress is picking their favorite scenes.
Het videos with educational overtones Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women 1 [ade] is a good example: it's technically porn, but was created by a sex educator with the intent of also serving an educational role through demonstrating realistic technique. Featuring Tristan Taormino, Nina Hartley, and Chloe. Het "all-sex" or "gonzo" series Note: "gonzo" indicates an informal filming style, with the person behind the camera becoming a part of the film. They're often a lot of fun, with sex that's a bit more real and less staged, even if production budgets are lower. A good strategy is to sample one film from each series until you find a series whose director you like.
Het videos featuring an all-female cast
Series featuring real-life couples having sex the way they normally have sex This is rarer than you might think. Some of the only reliable examples are the "Real Couples" tapes by MWI (Volume 4 being one of their best), as well as Marie and Jack, a Love Story. Documentaries about the adult video industry
Bisexual Note: Essentially all het videos will feature at least one scene with two women - the term "bisexual" when applied to adult videos simply means that the men will have sex with each other as well.
Lesbian Note: The distinction between these videos and those in the "all-female"
section above, is that these were made by and for a lesbian audience rather than
a heterosexual male audience. As new films of this type come out, you can often
find reviews of the films and interviews with the directors in the print
magazine On Our Backs
Gay It's hard to go wrong when picking a film directed by the the famed Chi Chi LaRue: click here to see a list of gay films rentable through Bluedoor which were directed by Chi Chi. Another option is to use www.gayvnawards.com to find the current year's top-rated films, and then search for them by name through Bluedoor or GayDVDEmpire. For men-only videos featuring serious BDSM play, those offered by Shotgun Video (although fairly extreme) are some of the best-regarded. BDSM Note: You may also wish to check out BDSM education films, which may feature even more realistic play.
Transgender (FTM)
For additional suggestions and reviews... Please see the wonderful new book The Ultimate Guide to Adult Videos by Violet Blue. If you're watching with your partner... Here are a few ideas, based on suggestions from Violet Blue's book: For waiting until after the film to have sex: Don't be surprised if the sex is hotter than normal, even if the film isn't that great - just leave the remote within easy reach so that either of you can fast forward through ny material which turns him or her off. Another alternative (frustrating but in a fun way) is to watch the entire film without touching yourselves or each other, and when the video is over to write down a list of your favorite parts, or things you wish you'd seen in the film, and later on swap your lists for play. For having sex while watching the film: One easy way to do this is watch the film with your hands in each other's laps, under a blanket: this can be especially hot if you make a "rule" that you can only touch each other, but not yourselves. On the other hand, if intercourse is what you'll prefer, then one possibility is for one partner to straddle the other while facing the TV, and another possibility is doggie-style facing the TV (particularly comfortable if the receiving partner has some big pillows to lie on, so their weight isn't all on their arms). Of course, you can also take turns giving each other oral sex, while the receiving partner watches. For making a "contest" out of it: Play a game such as tennis or cards. Then watch a movie. During the movie, the partner who won the game gets a vibrator to play with (or can touch themselves as much as they like) while the loser is forbidden from even using their hands. Alternatively, let the winner pick a scene from the film to act out together afterwards. BooksIf you prefer your erotica in the form of the written word, then you're in luck: you'll find a wider range of material, and often higher quality material, than in almost any other genre of porn. Fiction: All PornLet's say you aren't as interested in literary "art" as you are in erotic novels which provide reliable masturbation fodder. For that, the following are the leading publishers (where each link will take you to an amazon.com page describing that publisher's most popular titles): or or for het men's erotica, for het women's erotica, or for gay, lesbian, and bi erotica (though please note that Alyson publishes far more than just erotica). With Blue Moon Books their Best of the Erotic Reader collection might be a good way to figure out which of their authors you like, while the equivalents for Black Lace are their "Wicked Words" collections. Fiction: Half Porn, Half LiteratureLet's say you'd like a fair amount of "stroke" material, but also wouldn't mind a few erotic stories thrown in the mix that either through literary arts, memorable characters, or thought-provoking situations engage your analytical mind as well. Or, let's say you know what you like, and would like to find a collection of stories specific to your preferences. In that case, this section is for you. Something for Everyone: The Best American Erotica 2005 Stories for Couples: Sweet Life: Erotic Fantasies for Couples Bisexual: Best Bisexual Women's Erotica and Best Bisexual Erotica 2 Lesbian: Best Lesbian Erotica 2005 Growing Older: Ripe Fruit: Erotica for Well-Seasoned Lovers Science Fiction: The Bachelor Machine and Erotic Fantastic: The Best of Circlet Press 1992-2002 (note: Circlet Press specializes in sci-fi/fantasy erotica) BDSM/Fetish: Anne Rice's The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, Beauty's Punishment, and Beauty's Release. Carol Queen's The Leather Daddy and The Femme. Kim Corum's Breaking the Girl. Molly Weatherfield's Carrie's Story. Laura Antoniou's The Marketplace, The Slave, The Trainer, The Academy, and The Reunion. Patrick Califia's Macho Sluts. Also the anthologies Best Bondage Erotica and Best Fetish Erotica. Ultra-Short Short Stories: Five Minute Erotica and Down and Dirty: 69 Super Sexy Short-Shorts Stories Told in the First-Person: Hers: 30 Erotic Tales Written Just for Her and His: 30 Erotic Tales Written Just for Him Female Perspective: Best Women's Erotica 2005 Romance: Secrets: The Best in Women's Romantic Erotica - Volume 9 Sex Toys: Sex Toy Tales Food and Sex: Juicy Erotica Fiction: All LiteratureThe Butcher: And Other Erotica by Alina Reyes has received literary acclaim, and The Mammoth Book of Erotica is probably the best collection of erotic stories from leading writers, while Classic Nasty: More Naughty Bits is built from sexy excerpts from classic fiction. Although in bringing this up we're obviously departing a bit from the primary purpose of this document, we'd like to mention that the science fiction genre is also a fantastic way to expose yourself to thought-provoking new ideas. Personally, a good science fiction novel is just about our favorite way to relax, and you can click here to see our list of what we're planning to read and what we recommend from what we've already read. Non-Fiction: Real-Life StoriesThese books don't contain fiction, rather they contain vignettes from real peoples' real lives. They may be hit and miss as erotica, but are definitely good ways to get insight into a sexual orientation other than your own. Heterosexual (Swinging): Swing Stories: First-Person Tales of Sexual Adventure Lesbian: Early Embraces III: More True-life Stories of Women Describing Their First Lesbian Experience and Up All Night: Adventures in Lesbian Sex Gay: My First Time: Gay Men Describe Their First Same-Sex Experience - Volume 3, Slow Grind: Gay Men Tell Their Real-Life Sex Stories, and Bad Boys: Steamy True Stories from Bathhouses, Backroom Bars, and Sex Clubs ComicsThe best of these are fantastic, and right now the three best erotic comic artists are Phil Foglio, Colleen Coover, and Michael Manning. Basically, you'd probably prefer Phil Foglio's work (the XXXenophile Collection volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6) or Colleen Coover's work (the Small Favors volumes 1 and 2) if you want something sexy and lighthearted, and you'd probably prefer Michael Manning's work (either the four-part series The Spider Garden, Hydrophidian, In a Metal Web, and In a Metal Web II, or else the stand-alone and more het-focused book Tranceptor: The Way Station) if you want something more stylized and exotic. Audio RecordingsWe hope this form of erotica grows in popularity, because it's a lot of fun. As it stands one of the best examples of audio CD's featuring the sounds of real-life sex is Encounters Erotica. Also, a company called Passion Press specializes in producing recordings of actors reading erotic stories: if that sounds like the kind of thing you'd enjoy, then you'll be pleased to learn audible.com carries several Passion Press titles. Basically, the unique thing about erotic audio recordings is that you can listen to them via headphones in almost any situation and nobody has to know :) Web SitesStuff that Costs a Small Monthly Fee We admit to being very impressed with www.suicidegirls.com, and we wish we knew of more sites like it for other audiences. [BTW, please note that despite the memorable URL this site actually has nothing to do with suicide, that's a gothic reference and a "branding" thing...] Stuff that's Free For more erotic photography by one of the professionals who works with suicidegirls.com, see the Lithium Picnic livejournal site. For a browseable lifetime supply of written porn, created mostly by non-professionals, see www.asstr.org (but please be aware that you will probably need to sort through a LOT of stuff that isn't to your taste to find the subset of stories which are). |
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