Even in our age of electronic information, where everything is tweeted, blogged, torrented, and kindled, books haven't completely lost their power. Not only are they a low-tech, portable way of storing information, they make much better gifts than computer files do. Here are a few that CarnalNation thinks will make perfect gifts for any sex afficionado, from the vanilla to the pervy:
Picture Books for Grown-Ups
Lost Girls, by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie
Both pornography and comic books have a reputation for being banal, unimaginative, and ultimately disposable. With Lost Girls, Moore and Gebbie take both genres to their artistic heights; if you're going to get one dirty book this year, scrape together your pennies and shell out the $45 for this beautiful hardover. In Moore's story, three icons of children's literature—Wendy Darling from Peter Pan, Dorothy Gayle from The Wizard of Oz, and Alice of Wonderland fame—meet as adults at a resort in Austria on the eve of World War I. The three begin telling the stories of their erotic awakenings, which readers will recognize as very skewed versions of the stories that we're familiar with. Dorothy's first orgasm, for instance, happens when she's hiding from that cyclone that we all remember, and Kansas goes from being grey and lifeless to a colorful, rich place as she discovers her sexuality. One thing that people might want to consider is that Lost Girls deals very frankly with the sexuality of minors, and some of that sex is abusive. It also shows, however, that abuse need not define the sexuality of survivors.
Scarlett Takes Manhattan, by Molly Crabapple and John Leavitt
The main flaw of Crabapple and Leavitt's graphic novel, which chronicles the rise of Scarlett D'Lovely in Gilded Age New York, is that it's just too damn short. With the help of her transgendered lover Daniel D'Lovely, Scarlett rises from being another poor orphan (after a tragic accident involving two overly amorous elephants) to being the reigning star of New York's burlesque scene and the toast of society. Between Crabapple's bawdy, lusty drawings and Leavitt's historical knowledge of the period (including music and fashion), you can very easily become completely immersed in the world of Scarlett Takes Manhattan.
Best Erotic Comics 2009, edited by Greta Christina
Christina's annual collections have really lived up to their titles. If you want to know who's making the best smut in cartoon form, Best Erotic Comics are comprehensive and intelligent in their choices. Best of all, because of the long-time lack of anything like this series, the first two volumes have included selections not only from their respective years, but also from years past.
Erotic Comics and Erotic Comics 2, by Tim Pilcher with Gene Kannenberg, Jr.
These two volumes give a broad (although not necessarily deep) history of smutty comics that spans the original Tijuana bibles through the underground and queer comix of the sexual revolution up to the advent of webcomics. Well-illustrated and comprehensive in their diversity, the two make a fine gift for anyone who wants a different kind of superhero.
Tom of Finland XXL, edited by Dian Hanson
No discussion of modern sexual imagery would be complete without acknowledging the work of Touko Laaksonen, better known as Tom of Finland. Laaksonen's fetish work featuring bikers, sailors, policemen, and other manly men has become iconic for its masculine eroticism. This Taschen book comes at a premium price—$200—but includes commentary by John Waters and Armistead Maupin on the legacy of Tom of Finland.
Bob's World: The Life and Boys of AMG's Bob Mizer, edited by Dian Hanson
If you want quality pictures of beautiful, scantily-clad men and aren't able to plunk down two C-notes for the Tom of Finland book, you might want to take a look at this collection of the work of pioneering gay photographer Bob Mizer. Mizer, who worked in the pre-Stonewall days, founded the "Athletic Model Guild" in 1945 and spent the next 41 years publishing Physique Pictorial, featuring photographs of young men displaying their "athleticism." This book shows off Mizer's later, color work, and includes a one-hour DVD of films.
Dita: Stripteese, by Dita Von Teese and Sheryl Nields
Stripteese is actually three books in one: three small, vintage-style flipbooks in an elegant, beribboned box, to be precise. This is a perfect gift for anyone you know who appreciates not just burlesque, but its whole historical legacy. The flipbooks show how in touch with that legacy Dita is; while anyone can show off poses in a coffee-table book (and Dita has done some nice ones), the beauty of these is not only in how they show off Dita's star power, but how the books themselves serve as modern-day artifacts of old-fashioned burlesque style. An excellent gift for the true fan of burlesque.
Print
