Please note that the comments on all the books represent only Dirk's opinion.
As an additional service to this guide, we hope to be compiling a resource list of places where books dealing with SM, whether descriptive or erotic, can be obtained. In the meantime, try Forbidden Books, Blowfish, Trevor Jacques' Alternate Sources book and web site or the incredibly comprehensive general bookstore at Amazon. There is also a perve and queer antiquarian book trader, Priapean Tomes.
A
Henry Spencer Ashbee aka Pisanus Fraxi 1969, Index of Forbidden Books (written 1880s), London: Sphere
The author of the Victorian porn classic Walter's My Secret Life provides a detailed guide to his extensive collection of dirty books, with extracts, providing amongst other things evidence of the widespread existence of SM activities prior to the 'invention' of SM.
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Guy Baldwin 1993, Ties that Bind, Los Angeles: Daedelus
Collection of magazine articles covering everything from practical advice on techniques to managing scenes to emotional safety, from influential and well-regarded SM columnist .
Race Bannon 1992, Learning the Ropes: A Basic Guide to Safe and Fun S/M Lovemaking, Los Angeles: Daedelus
Brief, pithy if somewhat ideological basic introduction with useful safety tips, aimed at all genders and sexual orientations.
Boots, Leatherbound, Lucius and Tenderfoot (eds) 1983, SMART: A Newsletter of Gay SM, Issue 1 (September 1983), London: Smart Press
-- 1984a, Issue 2 (January 1984)
-- 1984b, Issue 3 (May 1984),
Sadly short-lived but ambitious and influential attempt at a sensible and modern SM mag, combining fiction, reference, practical information, reviews and comment. Copies are rare, but may be obtainable (at an inflated 'collector's' price) from SM Gays.
Gloria G Brame, William D Brame and Jon Jacobs (eds) 1996, Different Loving: The World of Sexual Dominance and Submission, 2nd edition (first edition 1993), New York: Villard/Random House
Well-reputed discussion volume described by its authors thus: 'A sympathetic, comprehensive discussion of all aspects of sadomasochism
and fetishism, featuring background histories on different kinks and
interviews with hundreds of participants and experts who, in their own
words, talk about the "how" and "why" of loving differently.'
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Pat Califia 1982, 'A Personal View of the History of the Lesbian S/M Community and Movement in San Francisco' in Samois 1982:243-281
Self-confessedly one-sided account of the emergence of pioneering lesbian SM group Samois in the face of much hostility.
-- (ed) 1988, The Lesbian SM Safety Manual, Boston: Lace/Alyson
Well-regarded book with much to recommend it to straight women and male SMers too.
-- 1993, 'The Power Exchange' in The Advocate 1979, abridged and reprinted in Woodward 1993:167-176
Provocative and entertaining polemic by a defiant lesbian top that promulgates the mistaken 'power exchange' theory of SM.
Countdown on Spanner (eds) 1993, The Doggy Bag, London: Countdown on Spanner
Mixed bag of post-Samois definitions, safety tips, listings and legal stuff from a mixed organisation set up to support the Spanner defendants.
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Tony DeBlase aka Fledermaus 1993, 'Male Genitorture (Also known as Cock and Ball Torture, CBT)' in Sandmutopia Guardian 14, pp14-22 (revised reprint of article originally in Dungeon Master)
Detailed discussion of CBT profusely illustrated with interesting photos.
DIY Dave 1984, 'Blackrooms Without a Blackroom' in Boots et al 1983a:3 and 1983b:5
Practical advice on adapting your living space for play.
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E
Havelock Ellis 1942, Studies in the Psychology of Sex, New York: Random House
Key work from an early liberal psychologist
Frederick Engels 1995, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (first published 1885), London: Junius
This classic historical-materialist account of the emergence of the modern family is essential basic reading for anyone interested in issues of sexuality and sexual oppression.
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Gillian Freeman 1967, The Undergrowth of Literature, London: Panther
Sensationalist journalistic account of pervy literature in the 1960s, with some amusing extracts
Sigmund Freud 1938, The Basic Writings of Sigmund Freud, translated and edited by A A Brill, New York: Modern Library
-- 1953, 'Three Essays on Sexuality' in the Standard Edition of The Complete Psychological Works Vol VII, London: Hogarth
Freud's 1905 essay on fetishism locates its origin in early sexual impressions, with the fetish a submerged memory of childhood.
-- 1953a, 'Fetishism' in the Standard Edition of The Complete Psychological Works Vol XXI (written in 1927), London: Hogarth
Freud's mature work identifies fetishism with castration fear.
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Paul Gebhard 1983, 'Fetishism and Sadomasochism', originally in Masserman 1969, excerpted in Weinberg and Kamel 1983
Interesting outline by an anthropologist that attempts to locate SM as historically and socially specific.
Harald Gieseler (ed) 1983, Cool Handbuch für Lederkerle, Berlin: Pink Rose Press
German potpourri of reference, speculative articles and gay male SM and leather porn, including everything from guides to piercing, tattooing and bodybuilding to an appreciation of Tom of Finland.
Gerald Greene and Caroline Greene 1974, S-M The Last Taboo, New York: Grove Press
Pioneering, sympathetic and refreshingly straightforward account of the emergence of the modern SM movement, with room for psychological speculation and sociological observation alongside a collection of useful literary excerpts.
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Ulrike Heider (ed) 1986a, Sadomasochisten, Keusche und Romantiker: Vom Mythos neuer Sinnlichkeit, Hamburg: Rowohlt
Sadomasochists, Chaste and Romantic: on the myth of the new sensuality is largely a collection of essays on art and culture, linking what was then the nascent post-modernist approach to 'erotic irrationality', as identified in the works of Sade, Neitzsche and Bataille, with the nostalgia for a romantic life. Edited by a journalist and intriguing if rather impressionistic.
-- 1986b, 'Sadomasochismus -- Eine romantische Liebe' in Heider 1986a:15-37
Key essay in above collection.
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Trevor Jacques 1993, On the Safe Edge: A Manual for SM Play Toronto: WholeSM
Written in conjunction with Dr Dale, Michael Hamilton and Sniffer, this remarkably comprehensive book aimed at all genders and sexual orientations emerged out of a course in SM safety organised in Toronto. Mostly well-organised and clear and a very worthwhile investment, although with a tendency to both the clinical and the mystical. Page numbering system is a nice touch. More information on the web.
-- 1996, Alternate Sources, 2nd edition, Toronto: Kink, Ink
Milestone international perve and SM resource guide, covering everything from suppliers to support groups to Internet resources. Unsurprisingly, considering the latter, the book has its own web site; it has also recently been made available on CD-ROM.
Shiela Jeffreys 1985, 'Sadomasochism: The Erotic Cult of Fascism', typescript
Silly and nasty attempt to link SM with fascism
Karen Johans 1988, 'S/M First Aid' in Califia 1988:19-29
Excellent concise first aid summary aimed at lesbian SMers but of much wider use and relevance.
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Richard von Krafft-Ebing 1965, Psychopathia Sexualis (originally published 1885), translated by Franklin S Klaf, New York: Stein and Day.
Classic early psychological text on sexual 'deviations'.
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Robin Ruth Linden, Darlene R Pagano, Diana E H Russell and Susan Leigh Star (eds) 1982, Against Sadomasochism: A Radical Feminist Analysis, East Palo Alto, CA: Frog in the Willow
Collection of misguided papers attacking sadomasochism from a confused feminist viewpoint, largely written in reaction to the emergence of lesbian sadomasochists. Arguably one of the founding documents of Political Correctness.
Brenda Love (ed) 1992, The Encyclopedia of Unusual Sexual Practices, New York: Barricade (British edition 1995, London: Abacus)
Since Love's editorial board includes everyone from SMers and performance artists to psychologists and doctors, this compendium has an uneven tone, with psychobabble and mysticism rubbing shoulders with historical trivia and first-hand accounts. It addresses a broad range of so-called 'paraphilias' (John Money provides an extensive list of his coinages for many of them) including many of SM interest and, though it deliberately eschews practical advice, it's still an absorbing if often infuriating
read, engagingly illustrated with line-drawn miniatures.
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James McDonald 1996, The Wordsworth Dictionary of Obscenity and Taboo, originally published as Dictionary of Obscenity and Taboo 1988, Ware, Herts: Wordsworth
Not entirely scholarly and not totally 'on-topic' but full of fascinating trivia. Did you know that avocados were named after testicles, or that 'fartleberry' is one of at least six English words for the fragments of dried shit that cling to hair around the anus?
John E Mack 1976, A Prince of Our Disorder: The Life of T.E. Lawrence, Boston: Little, Brown and Co.
Arguably the best biography of the celebrated WWI soldier and CP enthusiast, "Lawrence of Arabia".
Karl Marx 1954, Capital: A Critical Analysis of Capitalist Production Volume I, translated by Samuel Moore and Edward Aveling and edited by Frederick Engels (first published 1887), Moscow: Progress
Particularly relevant for the basic theory of commodity fetishism.
Jules Masserman (ed) 1969, Dynamics of Deviant Sexuality: Scientific Proceedings of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, New York: Grune and Stratton
Psychological paper compilation from the end of the permissive sixties.
Don Milligan 1993, Sex-life: A Critical commentary on the History of Sexuality, London: Pluto
Opinionated, sometimes opaque and sometimes insightful account of twentieth century theories of sexuality, from Freud to post-modernism, that offers few conclusions but tellingly reveals that reactionary models based on the notion of 'natural' and apparently left-wing 'social-constructivist' views of sexuality may have more in common than at first appears.
John Money 1986, Lovemaps: Clinical Concepts of Sexual/Erotic Health and Pathology, Paraphilia, and Gender Transposition in Childhood, Adolescense and Maturity, New York: Irvington/Prometheus
Key work by a modern liberal sexology theorist and taxonomist of paraphilias.
John Money, Gordon Wainwright and David
Hingsburger 1991, The Breathless Orgasm: A Lovemap Biography of Asphyxiaphilia, Buffalo, NY: Prometheus
A case study of a breath control fetishist from liberal sexologists.
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Maurice North 1970, The Outer Fringe of Sex: A Study in Sexual Fetishism, London: Odyssey Press
Sympathetic and endearingly dated but sometimes prurient account of rubber fetishism that paints an intriguing portrait of the 1960s fetish and SM scenes
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John Preston 1984, I Once Had a Master and Other Tales of Erotic Love, Boston: Alyson
First and best of this self-proclaimed gay male pornographer's 'Master' books, which are taken by many as the quintessential statement of the full-time master/slave scene; three sequels got more pretentious and more politically disturbing as time went on.
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The Quartermaster 1991, 'Fundamentals of Flagellation' in Sandmutopia Guardian 5
Useful introductory article from this practically-oriented magazine.
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Pauline Réage 1966, The Story of O, translated from L'Histoire d'O 1954, New York: Grove Press
Classic literary erotica recounting the story of a young woman, O, who is inducted into a live of sexual slavery in a secret ring by her rich lover.
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SM Gays (eds) 1992-6, SM Gays Resource Books 1-4, London: SM Gays
Slim collections of responsible factsheets from the workshops of this London-based gay male group, some of them useful and stylishly presented, with lots of club, bar and supplier listings in Britain and Europe.
Leopold von Sacher-Masoch 1980, Venus im Pelz (first published 1869), Frankfurt; English version 1965, Venus in Furs, New York: Belmont
Severin sells himself as a slave to the beautiful Wanda, desiring to be whipped by her while she is dressed in her furs, but finds things don't turn out as he expected. Early statement of submissive mentality.
The Marquis de Sade (Donatien Alphonse François de Sade) 1966, The 120 Days of Sodom and other writings (written 1785), compiled and translated by Austryn Wainhouse and Richard Seaver with introductions by Simone de Beauvoir and Pierre Klossowski, New York: Grove
Relentlessly cruel novel about four aristocratic libertines who torture a group of young men and women to death, adapted into a brilliant film, Salo, by Pier Paolo Pasolini. This splendid edition also includes minor writings and critical essays.
St John Ambulance , St Andrew's Ambulance Association and British Red Cross (eds) 1992, First Aid Manual, revised sixth edition, London: Dorling Kindersley
Essential book for all SMers, just in case, with clear and easy to understand advice. Used in conjunction with a course, it's even better.
Samois Collective (eds) 1982, Coming to Power: Writings and Graphics on Lesbian S/M, revised and updated second edition (first published by the authors 1981), Boston: Alyson
Collection of theory, personal experience and erotica from a group of SM lesbians in San Francisco, with contributors including Pat Califia, Holly Drew and Gayle Rubin; its shaky theory has been an enormous influence on the radical sections of the SM community ('S/M: A form of eroticism based on a consensual exchange of power", announces the title page), but its practical advice and accounts of scenes make for a fun read.
SMART, see Boots et al 1983-4
David Stein (ed) 1996, Mister Benson Doesn't Live Here Anymore, New York: GMSMA (Limited edition)
Excellent pamphlet collection of documents relating to full time (gay male) master-slave relationships, including contracts drawn up by masters and slaves, personal recollections, resource list and an essay on the phenomenon by Stein.
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Tattoodoc 1994, 'Some Reactions of a "Kinky" Physician' in Checkmate 9, November 1994.
Response to Williamson's breath control article in the same issue: the magazine's medical consultant counsels caution.
Mark Thompson (ed) 1991, Leatherfolk: Radical Sex, People, Politics and Practice, Boston: Alyson
General essays from a broad range of 25 authors covering everything from the history of SM in the United States to personal attitudes towards SM sexuality. Contributors include Guy Baldwin, Joseph W Bean, Pat Califia, John Preston, Gayle Rubin, David Stein, Samuel M Steward.
Larry Townsend 1983, The Leatherman's Handbook II, New York: Modernismo
Comprehensive but very prescriptive handbook from the old guard US gay male scene, punctuated by diverting episodes. Tip: on no account wear aftershave! First edition dates back to 1972.
Tanith Tyrr 1996, 'Breath Control -- Edge Play', post to alt.sex.bondage, archived at Magenta.
Short but sensible words of advice on how to get the most for little risk out of breath play.
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VSSM (Vereniging Studiegroep Sado-Masochisme) 1985, Homo SM, Amsterdam: VSSM
Excellent concise and entertaining introductory booklet on gay SM with a range of information from bondage and CP to piercing and fisting, intriguing fiction and even a short essay on SM and fascism. In Dutch and long overdue for translation.
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Thomas Weinberg and G W Levi Kamel (eds) 1983, S & M: Studies in Sadomasochism, New York: Prometheus
Mixed compilation of historical stuff, insightful insider views and academic papers (some of them wide of the mark). Contributors include Gerhard Falk, Pat Califia and the editors.
Clark Williamson 1994, 'A Deadly Fetish' in Checkmate 9, November 1994.
Controversial article about breath play, describing some unsafe techniques. See also Tattoodoc 1994.
Jay Wiseman 1992, SM 101: A Realistic Introduction, Berkeley, CA: Wiseman
Bay Area SM organiser and paramedic Wiseman's style may be found overbearing by some, but he has a lot of good advice in a work aimed chiefly at straight SM beginners.
-- 1996, 'The Medical Risks of Breath Control', post to alt.sex.bondage archived at Magenta.
Argues that breath control is always unpredictably unsafe for physiological reasons. A reworked version is to be published as an appendix to the new edition of SM 101 (see above).
Tim Woodward (ed) 1993, The Best of Skin Two, New York: Richard Kasak
Disappointly dull collection from the pages of London-based fetish glossy Skin Two: rather unpenetrating interviews with figures like Clive Barker, Tim Burton and professional dominatrix Terence Sellers aka Angel Stern, opinions on the perfect madam, tame fiction and apologetic cod psychology that doesn't seem to have left the 1960s. Califia's classic 'Power Exchange' essay and Woodward and fellow magazine founder Michelle Olley's piece on Spanner are the highlights.
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