* Skip to ch. 9 to begin the actual content. The beginning part is all rhetorical virtue signaling fluTL;DR - This book is entirely about cunnilingus.
* Skip to ch. 9 to begin the actual content. The beginning part is all rhetorical virtue signaling fluff / bashing on guys and their ignorance throughout history.
* Needs way more pictures! (the anatomy section only had 2 images, both almost stick figure-like sketches! The action parts were worse!) I think showing the layers of muscle and other tissue would've helped here, especially indicating where and when each is supposed to relax, contract, or engorge upon stimulation to X area via Y means with Z pressure/directions. I know "everyone is different", but there should be at least some mention of statistical trends if there are any (or if there aren't), variance, potential (sub-)cultural differences, what to do if your partner has certain cognitive hiccups or troubles with areas from past encounters, etc. Also, pictures of where the openings and ducts of each gland are would have been nice.
* Also, it might just be because much of my recent time has been spent with academic papers, but this book reads like one long magazine article. Others might enjoy the pop trivia, but the constant use of secondary sources and quotes from other (often informal!) magazines & books as if they were scientific evidence really irked me. When reading this book you'll often find the stylistic template of "some say that...while others say that....while more say that...and in some sense all of this is true", and not giving us any evidence for anything or any reasoning to help weigh and compare these different theories! No biological mechanisms or even behavioral studies at all. Just mere suggestions and speculations! From my perspective, the information content reads only slightly above the level of locker room gossip.
* I wish the author would've mentioned more from the area of microbiome research. I would suspect that the act of cunnilingus would change the micro floral & fauna ecology of both participants, having important noticeable downstream effects on later scent and taste, etc (as well as general well-being and health). The author mainly just says "Lots of factors can affect smell and taste…" but really the only actionable advice they give is to eat more yogurt and maybe drink wine lol (and even then I am skeptical of much flora survived and transferred from gut to down there).
* Regardless of the above, I did learn a few things (and perhaps might be exposing my childlike naiveté at this point in time, but hey, I'm trying to honestly learn here!) Rather dumb, but for example, I did not know that at the peak of sexual arousal, the Clitoral Glans (the head) generally retreats underneath the hood (with the help of the suspensory ligament). It is unfortunate that the author provided different reasons for this in two different sections of the book. Also, the notes on the various alternative positions of bodies, legs, hands, fingers, lips, mouth, and tongue (and where to place pillows) helps a bunch as a fountain of ideas. Finally, for all of us readers, chapter 22 (pg. 45 for future reference ...more
TL;DR - More psychology (therapy-style) than biology. Reads like a slightly more informative Psychology Today article.
Some things to note:
* While thisTL;DR - More psychology (therapy-style) than biology. Reads like a slightly more informative Psychology Today article.
Some things to note:
* While this book was quite comprehensive, going over everything from the biology to the psychology of the sexual experience, in my opinion, the latter took center stage for the majority of the book. This might prove especially helpful to those people dealing with certain cognitive hiccups for themselves or their partners. For those seeking more information on the anatomical, physiological, microbial, and other general biological perspectives, I would instead recommend that you spend your time with The Vagina Bible: The Vulva and the Vagina—Separating the Myth from the Medicine by Jennifer Gunter (Seriously, that book is pretty great so far!)
* I did prefer the informal style of this over She Comes First: The Thinking Man's Guide to Pleasuring a Woman by Ian Kerner. The latter read more like one long magazine article disguised as Science Proper, with use of pop trivia, tons of secondary sources and quotes from other magazines or books, and much of it opinion-based and from the author's personal experiences. This book got the tone + audience matched a bit better (probably because I went in with much lower expectations), though it still reads like a magazine article you'd skim through at the grocery market checkout aisles or some slightly more informative Psychology Today piece online.
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