bookshelf

Dress for SEXcess

Name: Dress for SEXcess
Author: ScissorMan
ISBN: 978-0-9837189-1-8

NEW WAYS TO DRESS UP AND DECORATE THE FEMALE BODY IN VERY SEXUALLY ATTRACTIVE WAYS, ON A LOW BUDGET, FOR MORE VARIETY, MORE FUN, AND MORE

by ScissorMan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 17, 2015

Readers may appreciate some of this book’s sewing tips, but it falls short as a more general guide to revitalizing marital...

bookshelf

This marital advice book by the pseudonymous author ScissorMan offers an unusual idea: cutting up a spouse’s clothes.

The author isn’t a therapist or researcher, but he writes that he’s been in a loving, sexually active marriage for 50 years. In this book, he shares his ideas about what makes his marriage work. His main strategy for adding variety to their sex life, he says, is to make various revealing outfits for his wife instead of buying expensive lingerie. He doesn’t pretend to have advanced sewing experience; instead, he’s found less skill-intensive ways to modify thrift-store clothes for use in the bedroom. His book offers some helpful illustrations of these methods but no step-by-step diagrams. There’s a lot of creativity involved here, and some of the ideas may be inspiring for couples who are interested in this type of play. There seems to be a certain lack of awareness, however, that the idea may not appeal to every reader. The book also includes lectures about how men think, and other chapters make specific reference to the Bible and to other marriage advice books. The author admonishes wives to maintain their physical appearances for their husbands’ benefit and also reminds women of the Biblical teaching to respect their husbands: “Lack of respect is also probably the main cause of marital problems by women who have been brainwashed by the Feminist Movement,” he says. Unfortunately, this idea places much of the burden of repairing a marriage on the wife. Such conservative thoughts about gender roles and marriage seem at odds with the book’s explicit tone, and they may alienate readers who would have otherwise taken an interest in the clothing.

Readers may appreciate some of this book’s sewing tips, but it falls short as a more general guide to revitalizing marital sex.

Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-9837189-1-8

Page Count: 250

Publisher: Master Lover Publishing

Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2015

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

bookshelf

NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

bookshelf

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

bookshelf

TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

bookshelf

An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.