The Ultimate Guide to Adult Videos

Whether you're a porn novice or seasoned except, The Ultimate Guide to Adult Videos is one of the most comprehensive books on adult movie watching that you'll ever need. Columnist and sex educator Violet Blue covers all the bases here, providing all the information on watching porn and which movies to choose on your next trip to the video store. For those of you who are either shy or turned off by watching porn, this book is a great guide to help you ease your way into selecting some visual stimulation without offending your sensibilities.

The book is divided into essentially three categories. First, she dispels some common myths about the porn industry such as "people who watch porn are compulsive masturbators" (everyone does it), "people who watch porn are addicts" (some are), and "porn is a racist/sexist industry" (yes, it can be, but not always). She gives some good reasons on why one should watch porn before moving into a section on how to watch porn. Pop a DVD/VHS in a press play? Well, it's a little more than that. Whether you're alone or with a partner, she gives some tips on how to make your porn viewing a little more interesting than sitting in front of the tube with one hand on the remote and the other down your pants.

Still not convinced? After discussing the different types of adult movies, such as educational, gonzo, classics, and Pro-Am, she dedicated a chapter to common concerns about porn that usually prevent people from watching it. Sure fake boobs, facial cum shots, and bad music can be turnoffs, but there are movies in which these detractors don't exist. She does delve into issues about porn being degrading to women, but also recognizes that this belief is usually in the eyes of the viewer, who is making assumptions that are often incorrect.

Once the reader is primed and ready, she delves into the section on the films themselves. Starting with bios on some of porn's most popular directors, she details what each filmmaker is known for and what the nature of their films is usually like. If you're looking for female point of view, try a film by Veronica Hart, if you're looking for big budget and originality, try Michael Ninn's films.

Next are the film reviews, over 150 pages of them, categorized into sections such as features, classics, gonzo (no plot, just sex), and educational videos. Each review has a brief summary of the film, names of all of the performers, and picture icons that denote whether the film has fake boobs, extreme sex acts, real female orgasms, sexually dominant women, and whether it would be recommended for the first time porn viewer. Handy. This is where Blue really shows her expertise on porn...she seems to have viewed almost every porn flick ever made, if that's possible. The reviews had me making a list for myself and making a few runs to the video store to check out titles I thought seemed interesting.

After all that, she concludes the book with a porn glossary, in case you didn't know what a 'cream pie' was or what 'ATM' stands for, you will now. She also includes resources to buy porn at online, and many sex and porn-positive websites that she finds to be valuable. Not much gets left out here. A valuable reference guide for the porn freak like me.

For all of you pro-porn sex kittens out there, I would highly recommend you keeping a copy of this book handy. You'll find yourself going back to it, marking off pages and films you want to see, or passing it off to friends to read.

For those of you still turned off by porn, I would still encourage you to take a look at this book to held ease you through some of your fears or negative thoughts about adult movies. Violet Blue takes a feminist approach to everything she writes, and while never turning off men, she is always female-positive. If you can't find a movie listed in this book that might pique your interests, then, hell, get off this website!

Review by Libby.

Title: The Ultimate Guide to Adult Videos: How to Watch Adult Videos and Make Your Sex Life Sizzle
Author: Violet Blue
Publisher: Cleis Press (September 2003)
ISBN: 1573441724