A relatable, timely analysis of pornography’s history and its effect on the mindset of the gay community.
A New York writer and sex therapist’s treatise on pornography and gay men portrays the genre as a double-edged sword.
Long before the days of internet porn and smartphone hookup apps, Times Square grind houses were teeming with adult films that catered to the curious, the horny, and the ubiquitous men in old raincoats. To Shewey (Sam Shepard, 1997, etc.), the 1970s gay porn films helped the audience connect with their erotic selves and filled a void in representation, showing a fledgling gay audience “a world where everyone is enthusiastically, unapologetically gay.” As porn theaters gave way to home video, and the classified ads gave way to online dating, people’s mindsets changed along with the innovations in technology. Solitary and repetitive home viewing of porn began weakening relationships while the impossible male porn standards of everlasting strength and massive endowment were altering ideas of what was normal. As a sex therapist, Shewey is able to recount many complaints from people who grapple with feelings of inadequacy and performance problems, and he writes about how pornographic images have exacerbated his clients’ unrealistic expectations. Though he is clearly a lifelong fan of adult films and credits them with teaching him and others a great deal, he also blames porn for “liberating some inhibitions but installing others in their place, enslaving us to libidinal impulses at the expense of our health and mental well-being.” He concludes with results from a study he conducted that included 50 men who were interviewed about their habits and feelings about porn. The author’s effort to dive into the gay male psyche effectively touches on many significant topics, including the challenge of enjoying sex in times of great fear and calamity, such as during the height of the AIDS epidemic. Gay community history is skillfully told here, especially as it relates to the erotic side of things, and his warnings about subscribing to porn norms in everyday life sound important in an era of muscle clones and smartphone app players. Stories from his clients are told somewhat rapid-fire, but the intent is to remind people they aren’t alone in their struggles and that intimacy can be rediscovered. There are many intriguing excerpts from other writers, including heavyweights in and outside of the gay community.
A relatable, timely analysis of pornography’s history and its effect on the mindset of the gay community.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-73213-440-9
Page Count: 226
Publisher: Joybody Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A rags to riches story which would benefit from more heart and less science.
In a straightforward autobiography, Hirschorn recalls his journey from a childhood in 1930s Berlin to building a multinational corporation that helped make the world a less noisy place.
Born in Berlin in 1921 to a working class Jewish family, even as a child Hirschorn helped his parents at their respective jobs. Things changed when the Nazis came to power. By 1937, his parents had sent him to the relative safety of school in England. As World War II raged, the author managed to earn an engineering degree. In 1947, he joined his aunt in America and found some fame in engineering circles through a paper on designing an equipment silencer. He used this as a springboard to start his company, Industrial Acoustics Company, out of his aunt’s fourth-floor walk-up–he quickly found a need for his specific brand of expertise in postwar America. The author’s story is the quintessential immigrant’s tale–he arrived in America with nothing and turned himself into a captain of industry. Yet so much time is spent on the nitty-gritty of engineering and not enough on how Hirschorn became the man with a knack for silencing cacophony. The most thrilling part of the book should have been Hirschorn’s formative years in Nazi Germany and WWII England, but the writing is excessively matter-of-fact, robbing it of excitement. Even the excerpts from his actual journals, written when he was a young man, are somewhat sedate. However, the 70-year-old Hirschorn’s commentary on his younger self is intriguing. While the book can be impassive, the breadth of the author’s experience and knowledge is impressive.
A rags to riches story which would benefit from more heart and less science.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-0-9769816-0-2
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
French culinary king Franey (A Chef's Tale, p. 189, etc.) teams up with Flaste once again in this companion book to Franey's new 26-week public television series. Amassed here are a selection of classic specialities from each of 20 major gastronomic areas of the country, with information on cheeses, desserts, and drinks and how these ingredients have influenced the development of cuisine in places from Normandy (famous for cream, Calvados, and apple cider) to the Loire Valley (known for freshwater fish like sandre and trout) to Gascony (a major foie gras producer). The authors offer excellent recipes for simple, peasant fare; popular bistro foods; and sophisticated restaurant dishes. Unfortunately, French regional often means lots of meat and cream, and while this makes for great taste in everything tested, from the rich scallops sauteed with leeks and saffron to the hearty sauerkraut with pork, no one can indulge in such heavy meals often. Although there are many lighter recipes in this good cookbook (which will, in all likelihood, become a food bible for Francophiles), it could have been even better with the inclusion of variations for reducing fat. Franey presents easy-to-follow instructions, and even for the most spectacular dishes the preparation is manageable, though often requiring several steps (one of which may be a sauce). Delicious—but just because Franey asserts that the French have avoided current low-fat standards without suffering in ``health or looks'' doesn't mean we all can. (50 photos, 15 in full color, 20 maps, not seen) (First printing 50,000; Book-of-the-Month Club's Homestyle Book Club alternate selection)
Pub Date: Aug. 30, 1994
ISBN: 0-679-43157-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1994
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