Customer Reviews

A Hand in the Bush: The Fine Art of Vaginal Fisting

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Contrary to my usual 'new book' practice, I read "A Hand in the Bush" twice in a row. My fascination with the subject remains strong, after a few years as a participant, but it is Deborah Addington's writing style that I found most captivating.

Addington paints a very clear picture of this very intimate art in direct and often gritty terms; it is a graphic work about a graphic (and possibly intimidating) practice. Some of her favorite nouns and verbs are a little edgy; if four letter words describing sexual acts offend you, you might want to bypass this one.

On the other hand, (pardon the pun) "A Hand in the Bush" is an excellent guide to the ins and outs of vaginal fisting. Topics covered include safety, communications, troubleshooting, and lots of good common sense. The FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) covers the topic well, with sections on safety, what's involved, injuries and how to avoid them, who are likely candidates, and what to avoid (for instance: force, lack of consent, and hangnails, to mention only a few.)

This is presented with a great deal of care, and with a level of intimacy I rarely see in non fiction. I laughed, and I cried. There is a great amount of joy in the reading, and yes, some sorrow.

"What's Involved" may help to clarify the tone of the book: "Two(or more) willing participants, lots and lots of artificial lubricants, a good manicure and/or latex gloves, and communication, communication, communication. Did I mention communication? Communication is most definitely required."

Fisting is an art that requires lots of care, good observation skills, and yes, lots of communication. "If pain becomes the overriding sensation and does not immediately subside, -immediately- stop what you're doing and communicate about the sensations you're both experiencing... When the body starts talking pain, -listen-."

If you're looking for a friendly guide to this gentle and extremely intimate Art, I can suggest this book without reservation. "A Hand in the Bush" is clear, concise, and very informative without attempting to be intimidating or overly scholarly. It is, in my opinion, presented more like a love letter than a how to. That adds a great deal to the view that fisting, contrary to what one might think at first thought, is not about pain, coercion, force, or extreme sexual practice; it is a loving art that is easy to learn, and mastery of this art is attainable, where two people have a commitment to care and communication.

Binder says: "Two thumbs up."

This book is very slim -- there are only about 100 pages in it and much space is taken up with line drawings. It's understandable that the book is so slender since there really aren't volumes of information to impart on the subject, but I really wish the book had been longer. The book does covers the information very well and thoroughly. There is no way to make the information sections of the book longer without artificially stretching it out. As it is, vaginal fisting is a topic best suited to an article, not a full-length book. There is a section near the end of the book with poems and stories about fisting, written by people other than the author. I would have enjoyed it if that section had been expanded, even if it went so far as to take up half the total volume of the book. I was hungry for more information about fisting and would have liked to have seen more on the table at my feast of information.

But even if the reader is disappointed by the quantity of written material, they will not be disappointed by the quality. The author quite obviously knows what she is talking about and has produced a very clear and concise guide to an exotic activity that is one of the less understood forms of pleasure sharing available to adventurous and exploratory couples. Addington discusses safety information, hand positions, necessary and desirable supplies to have on hand, and even more obscure topics such as fisting after a hysterectomy. There is one personal account by a woman who tried fisting but did not enjoy it. I would have liked to have seen more varied accounts, especially stories about difficulties (whether overcome or not) and problems with fisting. I was also surprised that no one, not even the author, mentioned the cathartic or healing experiences that some people can have during a fisting experience. Most of the descriptions of what it feels like to be fisted focused on the sensation of being very full and on a very spiritual level of trust and intimacy. In my experience, this is just one hue of the spectrum of sensations and emotions that can accompany fisting.

Having personal experience with this subject, I can say that Addington has covered the physical territory very well and produced a book that is a good information source for beginning explorations in this intense, cathartic, orgasmic activity. I feel comfortable recommending this book to anyone who is curious about adding this activity to their sex life. Those already participating in fisting will probably not gain anything new from this book (other than the few poems, line drawings and one-page personal accounts) but those who have never been introduced to fisting by a friend or lover will learn quite a bit in the pages of Addington's book.

There is a difference between sex and really GOOD sex, and that the difference demands deep understanding of what the other person is feeling, physically and emotionally. Interesting sex is about communication, using rhythm, time, sensation, and mood as language. It is amazing and frustrating how often otherwise appealing people don't get this. The woman who wrote this book gets it. She does an excellent job of describing why one fists or gets fisted in the first place. As aggressive as fisting sounds she makes it very clear that it can be, in truth, an incredibly intimate experience, requiring tenderness, empathy, and patience. If you already are into it, if you're thinking about getting into it, or your partner wants you to think about getting into it...then buy this book.

This book is a wonderful referance to the wide world of fisting. I loved what it did for my sex life, not only do I know how to fist myself properly, but now I know how to fist others properly. I am so glad that someone finally ventured out and wrote openly about fisting, I was ashamed to ask people how to do it properly, but I very well knew that everyone does it, its nothing to be ashamed of. We all fist at one point in our lives. This book breaks throught the barriers and it brings it IN YOUR FACE, and leaves no questions asked. Fisting can be a fun and pleasureable past time if you KNOW how to do it RIGHT. And this book gives you step by step instructions while doing it, although I do advise that you have someone that you feel you can trust to either read to you as you are doing it, or have someone preform it for you and tell you step by step what they are doing. This enhances the experiance and makes it almost more pleasureable. I am glad that Deborah Addington has choosen to break the tabus of fisting. It is time that this particular sexual experiance be brought forth to the public in all it's glory.

I have to admit, I thought my man and I have done it allsexually. If we haven't done it, I thought at least we knew aboutit. I was floored when I discovered this book in my favorite sex shop. I always thought it was a joke. Some crude thing that angry teenage boys say.

According to the author, Deborah Addington, it is actually is becoming a very popular activity. Its very intimate and extremely potent when done correctly. As you can imagine, it is also very painful when done incorrectly.

This book is very direct is a talk dirty style that borders between porn and an instructional book. It is extremely informational, very graphic, and highly educational. At the same time...

Our feelings about this book are very mixed. On one hand, it's nice to see that a book has been written about our favorite hobby (it's the only one available as far as we know). But on the other hand, the book did leave us with a feeling that it's poorly written, greatly padded (despite being only 102 pages), and not very authoritative.

To start with, we found the author's writing style very gushy and irritating. Deborah Addington looks on fisting as a religion, and can't seem to get over saying again and again how wonderful it is. All well and good, but for us she is preaching to the already-converted, and the preaching together with the long-winded, gushy style became very tiring.

Even more annoying was the fact that the author tries to make you think that she really knows what she's talking about, but for us she came across as an enthusiastic devotee, and nothing more. There are a few quotes from doctors that she has known, but no indication as to whether these doctors have any relevant knowledge, and a few of her opinions and recommendations are, in our opinion, simply wrong.

For example, on page 3 it says "Who the hell is this Addington woman, and why should I listen to her? Because she has a college degree, and because she absolutely loves to...". My goodness, the credentials of a real expert! No mention of which college she went to or what subject the degree is in.

Then there's the question of how much real content the book has. As we read it, we kept wondering when the "good stuff", the real information about fisting, would start. It finally comes in chapter five, "Fisting, the adventure", which is 20 pages long. Great, now we're getting somewhere, we thought, only to discover that chapter five is the last chapter in the book! Following this chapter is a conclusion, some poems and essays by other fisting devotees, some appendices and a list of references.

OK, maybe it's hard to fill a major book with information about vaginal fisting, but this book comes across as 20 pages of "core material" and 80 pages of padding, some of which is relevant but most of which seems to be there primarily to flesh out the book.

Another thing that we didn't like was that the "how to do it" section assumed that the people involved were sleeping around, so 100% safe sex was the order of the day. The list of all of the paraphernalia and procedures recommended for really safe sex was enough to make you wonder if it isn't simpler to just refrain from sex.

There are, of course, some very positive things to say about this book. It does paint a very positive picture of vaginal fisting as something that can be very exciting and pleasurable. There are a lot of nice hand-drawn illustrations, many of which show relevant information. The message that fisting is something that you can do even after you end up in the old-folks home was encouraging. And the book does emphasize the need to practice safe sex, despite the negative aspects of this mentioned above.

All-in-all, we're recommending the book, despite the negative aspects, seeing as how "it's the only game in town".

I have been extremely conservative when it comes to various sexual expierences, but when my lover purchased this book and we read it, I was hot within momments. Fisting can be such a mind rocketing expierence. I recommend this book to anyone who is willing to try new things.

I loved this book. It was great, I never was intrested in fisting until I read this book, now I fist all the time, with my partner and by myself since the author goes over self fisting. I highly recomend this book for the experienced and the none experienced fister.

It is fantastic to see a book in the marketplace that departs with much of the hysterics that usually accompany the ancient art of vaginal fisting. This book had some useful tips on how to facilitate the process of vaginal fisting, by using lube, foreplay etc.
I was expectingly this book to be a bit light on material, but after reading it I can attest that it was a real page turner that had me gripped from page one. The notes on vaginal fisting run parellel to a touching narrative based around the the authors transition from naive small town girl to a city hooker, taking fists in all manner of orifices in exchange for neligible amounts of cocaine.
Some of the more enjoyable parts of the book were the section on "butterflying" (which, for the uninitiated, involves a complicated two handed procedure and a slight fanning motion) and the chapter on "russian stars" which quite simply must be seen (or experienced) to be believed.
The only thing the book was missing was information on how to pleasure oneself using household items such as rolling pins, beer bottles etc. I also would have liked some more information on anal fisting, but I assume the author is saving that for her next book.
Overall, a rivetting read, which should be read by everyone.

What a suprise it was to receive this book from my lover about a subject I hadn't even heard of. The book is so thorough in terms of phisiology, trust, psychology that I was left feeling very informed and curious. What an unbelievable sensation...and addition to your reading.