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From: Dilly Category: Books Date: 02 October 2006 Time: 01:42 PM Review: The long descriptions of porn pictures and films are quite dull in this book, and one rather wishes that there was a small image instead. However the point is made - the positions themselves are degrading and painful to women, and where they are depicted as dominant this is only exciting because it is so far from the truth. There is a good critical look at the lefts/intellectuals' admiration Sade where in most circumstances (if the women was not the main victim) one might expect him to be condemned. Dworking makes the point that at that time sodomy was illegal, and rape as always hard to prove. All this reminded me of the desire to identify with the powerful, and admire wealth and strength over and above humanity. I realise that there are lots who love his freedom, his excess and bla de bla, so I say viva la torture/ guantanamo if that is what you want. I was glad to read an alternative. Perhaps what was most striking and moving in this book is the bit at the back, an article that was published in the San Francisco Review of Books where Dworking discusses the writing of the book. Here she explains the effect of inundating herself to such a huge amount porn and the extent that it damaged her perception of reality, where everything can be used as a "sex" object. Any way you should read it, just that article, its excellent and sad and important.