25,000 Years of Erotic Freedom [Hardcover]

Alan Moore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2009

With each new technological advance, pornography has proliferated and  degraded in quality. Today, porn is everywhere, but where is it art? 25,000 Years of Erotic Freedom surveys the history of pornography and argues that the success and vibrancy of a society relates to its permissiveness in sexual matters.

This history of erotic art brings together some of the most provocative illustrations ever published, showcasing the evolution of pornography over diverse cultures from prehistoric to modern times. Beginning with the Venus of Willendorf, created between 24,000-22,000 bce, and book-ended by contemporary photography, it also contains a timeline covering major erotic works in several cultures. 25,000 Years of Erotic Freedom ably captures the ancient and insuppressible creative drive of the sexual spirit, making this book a treatise on erotic art.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Sexually progressive cultures gave us literature, philosophy, civilization and the rest, while sexually restrictive cultures gave us the Dark Ages and the Holocaust". (Alan Moore)"

About the Author

Alan Moore lives in Northampton, England, and is most famous for his influential work in comics, including the acclaimed comic books Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell. In 2006 Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie released Lost Girls, an illustrated series of erotic art exploring the possible sexual meanings in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He lives in Northampton, England. Eva Prinz is a New York-based editor and curator.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Abrams (October 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081094846X
• ISBN-13: 978-0810948464
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 0.6 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #492,631 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #58 in Books > Arts & Photography > History & Criticism > Themes > Erotica
  • #81 in Books > Arts & Photography > Other Media > Erotic

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Erotic History Lessons from the Salacious Scribe June 16, 2010

By D. Goldie

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

25,000 Years of Erotic Freedom is an unedited and expanded hard cover binding of an essay that Alan Moore wrote for "Arthur" Magazine during the publication of his erotic graphic novel masterpiece the Lost Girls. The book is a light survey of humanities' obsession with sex since the dawn of time to present day, illustrated with many full page panels of titillating art and the masterful prose of Moore. Like the Lost Girls, 25,000 years of Erotic Freedom does not seek to overtly glorify "pornography" or taboo subjects, but merely brings them to light and exposes the fact that we are more drawn to that which we publicly object to than we willingly admit. Moore explores our double-sided viewpoint on all things erotic, at once trying to sweep it under the carpet while secretly pilfering guilty glances while no one else is looking; and analysis the effect that such a suppressive attitude has had on sexuality and culture in general. A wonderful read for anyone who is tired of feeling guilty for wanting to explore all that sexuality has to offer in a culture that practically buries us under mountains of sexual suggestion while slapping our wrists for getting excited.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, Informative Romp March 27, 2010

By JackFaust77 VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This slim book is an expanded form of a piece Moore wrote for the counter-cultural free magazine ARTHUR a few years back. It's a great tour of the history of erotic/pornographic art, ideas, human attitudes towards such. It is not scholarly, but Moore simply riffing is a real treat: insightful, amusing, informative and thought provoking.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars No matter what ultra-Christian reactionaries may say, this is gold 5 stars March 24, 2012

By SeaGoat under Sirius

Format:Hardcover

By the author of V FOR VENDETTAV for Vendetta [Blu-ray] and WATCHMEN and FROM HELL, this is yet another quality work that has deservedly accrued many 5-star gold reviews around the globe.

I would advise doing as most other readers seem to do, and ignore the 1-star anti-review further down this page, as it is written by a fundamentally oriented follower of the Nazarene. In fact, I have done as most others have done, and voted a "NO IT IS NOT HELPFUL" vote against that spiteful piece of reviewing, which charges the fair, balanced and enormously educated Alan Moore with suggesting that the vikings ruled Europe for 1000 years - nowhere does he state this! That reviewer also accuses Moore of not comprehending European history! Anyone who knows anything about Alan Moore knows the truth to be quite the opposite. Enough ... let's hope all balanced readers ignore it and vote it off this page.

This book is not only beautiful, it is educational and thoroughly entertaining and well worth the relative cost. As Michael Haneke illustraed clearly and brutally, in his quiet film, The White Ribbon [Blu-ray] it was very fashionable for Germanic families, during the late Victorian and the Edwardian periods, to abuse their children by punishing them for adolescent activity that was private and bodily in nature. Tying-down children in bed, and forcing them to endure pain due to normal, adolescent arousal was brutal. Moore did not make this up. It happened, all over the Germanic lands (even the British royal family, with its German bloodline, is famous for the the "Prince Albert" invention, a genital piercing attached to a chain, around the thigh... and other then tortuous devices intended for covering over any signs of arousal; not to mention the covered table and chair legs!) Tying children's hands in bed, and placing painful devices upon their genitalia, as punishment for sexual awakening, may, as Moore suggests, have helped pervert a generation ... a monstrous generation that caused the holocaust.

Moore's thesis starts much earlier than C19th Germany. Rome was not brought to its knees by depravity. It had been most successful for 800 years based upon its orgies and decadence. What brought Rome down was Christianity, introduced kust 100 years afore it collapsed. I shall not spoil more fun nor further delights that lie in bed awaiting you dear reader ...

5 gold stars for me.