A hopeful but outmoded argument involving sexual relations.
This philosophical treatise/sexual instruction manual links the world’s ills to men’s inability to satisfy women.
In the opening of this second installment of a series, Whickwithy asks readers to suspend their beliefs that the “craziness of mankind is the natural order of things.” The “disruptive elements” of existence, including violence, misogyny, and misanthropy, are not part of human nature. The author describes a “missing nail” that holds the power to repair society—a move toward sentience. Whickwithy suggests that humankind has an ability to adapt that sets it apart from animals—but it continues to act brutishly, rarely considering its actions. The author explains that the problem lies with men specifically—they do not know how to satisfy women sexually. The resultant sense of failure feeds an anger that “ripples outward” into society, perpetuating disruption. Whickwithy encourages men to become attentive, sentient lovers—offering sex tips such as “don’t twerk and jerk until the lady sings.” The author believes that men overcoming their “bestial” instincts and providing mutual satisfaction during intercourse will pave the way to a more peaceful society. In this wide-ranging sequel, Whickwithy reiterates the argument found in A Sentient Perspective (2019) regarding the social importance of the “sexual satisfaction of the woman” but with a greater emphasis on sexual technique. Although eccentrically worded, the advice offered here is seldom innovative: “In the woman, it seems the…stimulation of the nub of the clitoris may be all it takes to achieve climax but twerking may help.” Whickwithy claims to be the first to take “this radical departure from the insanities of our past,” but the author’s assertions are outdated. The case presented presupposes that heterosexual relations alone determine the behavior and course of humankind. It also implies that all men are unloving until they turn into adept lovers, and that all men who can please a woman are on the path to becoming better human beings: “A man will become a loving creature once he no longer turns to ice due to his own failure.” Generalizations such as this prove difficult to embrace. Whickwithy’s writing is well intentioned in its quest for peace, and the author’s sincere argument features some intriguing and thought-provoking details about relationships and the world order. But the work stereotypes men as predators and excludes a significant section of society that does not identify as heterosexual.
A hopeful but outmoded argument involving sexual relations.Pub Date: July 25, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9971412-0-7
Page Count: 183
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
A top-flight nonfiction debut from a unique artist.
The acclaimed director displays his talents as a film critic.
Tarantino’s collection of essays about the important movies of his formative years is packed with everything needed for a powerful review: facts about the work, context about the creative decisions, and whether or not it was successful. The Oscar-winning director of classic films like Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs offers plenty of attitude with his thoughts on movies ranging from Animal House to Bullitt to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to The Big Chill. Whether you agree with his assessments or not, he provides the original reporting and insights only a veteran director would notice, and his engaging style makes it impossible to leave an essay without learning something. The concepts he smashes together in two sentences about Taxi Driver would take a semester of film theory class to unpack. Taxi Driver isn’t a “paraphrased remake” of The Searchers like Bogdanovich’s What’s Up, Doc? is a paraphrased remake of Hawks’ Bringing Up Baby or De Palma’s Dressed To Kill is a paraphrased remake of Hitchcock’s Psycho. But it’s about as close as you can get to a paraphrased remake without actually being one. Robert De Niro’s taxi driving protagonist Travis Bickle is John Wayne’s Ethan Edwards. Like any good critic, Tarantino reveals bits of himself as he discusses the films that are important to him, recalling where he was when he first saw them and what the crowd was like. Perhaps not surprisingly, the author was raised by movie-loving parents who took him along to watch whatever they were watching, even if it included violent or sexual imagery. At the age of 8, he had seen the very adult MASH three times. Suddenly the dark humor of Kill Bill makes much more sense. With this collection, Tarantino offers well-researched love letters to his favorite movies of one of Hollywood’s most ambitious eras.
A top-flight nonfiction debut from a unique artist.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-311258-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 31, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
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