The Big Butt Book [Hardcover]

Dian Hanson (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 8, 2010

The Kama Sutra gives detailed instructions on how to spank it. Contemporary Italians touch it for luck before placing a bet. Americans are having it cosmetically enhanced at rates approaching breast enlargement surgery. The female butt, tush, culo, or derrière has always inspired awe, fantasy, and slavish devotion.
     Curiously, its primary purpose is functional rather than aesthetic: butts balance our bodies while running, according to biologists. But ask any pygophiliac—as fundament fans are clinically termed—and you'll get the same answer: female hindquarters exist to please the eye, the hands, and parts south. A pert posterior causes instant arousal, as Zora Neale Hurston observed in Their Eyes Were Watching God: "The men noticed her firm buttocks like she had grape fruits in her hip pockets." Or, as rapper Sir Mix-a-lot proclaimed, "My anaconda don't want none, unless you’ve got buns, hun."
     Having all but disappeared from western culture in the breast-obsessed second half of the 20th century, the fully formed fanny is currently enjoying a massive resurgence, attributed by some to American actress Jennifer Lopez, by others to the rise of booty-centric hip hop culture. Yet this rage for shapely butts is nothing new. The ancient Greeks worshipped at the temple of Aphrodite Kallipygos, Goddess of the Beautiful Buttocks, while a womanly rump has always been an object of worship in most of the southern hemisphere.
    The Big Butt Book explores this perennial fascination with female booty—from small and taut to large and sumptuous—in the fourth installment of Dian Hanson's critically acclaimed body parts series. Over 400 photos from 1900 to the present day are contextualized by interviews with porn icon John (Buttman) Stagliano, filmmaker Tinto Brass, artist Robert Crumb, bootylicious butt queens Buffie The Body, Coco and Brazil's Watermelon Woman, plus Eve Howard and her life-long spanking obsession.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dian Hanson was born in Seattle in 1951. For 25 years she produced various men’s magazines, including Puritan, Juggs and Leg Show, before becoming TASCHEN's sexy book editor in 2001. Her many books for TASCHEN include The Big Penis Book, The Big Book of Legs and Bob’s World. She lives in Los Angeles.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 372 pages
• Publisher: Taschen; First Edition edition (June 8, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3836511150
• ISBN-13: 978-3836511155
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 12.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #371,524 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dian Hanson was born in Seattle, Washington, November 2, 1951. A hippie and high school drop out, she moved east at age 20, first to Oxford, Mississippi, then Allentown, Pennsylvania, finally settling in New York City in 1976 to work on the sex magazine Puritan. Over the next 25 years she edited magazines including Partner, Oui, Adult Cinema Review, Harvey, Hooker, Juggs and Leg Show. She founded the magazines Outlaw Biker, Hawgs, Big Butt, Bust Out and Tight. In 1993 Hanson became friends with Benedikt Taschen, and in 2001 she finally agreed to leave sex magazines and take over the Sexy Book division of TASCHEN Publishing. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband, the novelist Geoff Nicholson.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, BEAUTIFUL book. November 17, 2011

By J. Austin

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you're a butt guy, then you should LOVE this book. It's difficult for me to understand the negative reviews on this book here, but I'll try to address them. Before I say all that, though, I'd just like to say that this is a handsome, quality book. It's nicely bound, the pages are thick and glossy, and the pictures are clear, artistic, and very beautiful. Now, on to the debates.
-1) The title of the book may be misleading. You should interpret The Big Butt Book as "The Big Book of Butts", NOT "The Book of Big Butts". This book is dedicated to the female derriere in general, and it includes them in all sizes. So, yes, there are some, a handful even, that are not big. Some are even a bit flat. But the vast majority are pert, smooth, and wonderfully curvy. If you like enormous butts only, you will be disappointed. If it's the female butt itself that you like, then plunge forward.
-2) The book is divided mainly into decades, starting with the 40's and continuing into present day. So, yes, there are MANY black and white photos in this book. If you are a lover of color-only photography, you will be disappointed. However, all the photos are lovely, and the vast majority of women photographed are very, very attractive. The black and white photos also lend a fun, retro vibe to the book (including two great Betty Page photos here that I love). Different eras had different ideas of beauty, too, so some women of different decades might not appeal to all guys (hairstyles change; many older shots appear more candid, while modern shots appear more slick; some women are more heavily made up than others; etc.). If you only like photos taken in the last twenty years or so, you may be disappointed....
-3) I'm not sure if the racial component matters, but the overwhelming majority of women in this book are white. I think I read a review that asked why there were no more black women in this book, and to be honest, I don't really know. White women are the majority here, with black women taking up the next highest number of photos. So, if you happen to have a deep love of Asian/Indian/Latin backsides, you may be disappointed.
-4) Aside from the decade divisions, the book also intermittently profiles a few women that have made a name for themselves by their lovely bottoms: Buffie Carruth, AKA "Buffy the Body", a GORGEOUS black woman who has apparently graced a number of covers for black men's magazines; Andressa Soares, AKA the "Watermelon Woman", a STUNNING Brazilian beauty (this woman is so jaw-droppingly sexy that I literally had to look away from the pages at times), and Nicole Austin, AKA Coco (Ice-T's wife), a beautiful, blond white woman. I think I read that some people were annoyed that Coco took up 18 pages here, but...come on, guys!!! She's beautiful!!!
-5) There are also brief profiles of men who have dedicated their professions to the female butt, like John Stagliano, AKA "Buttman"; Robert Crumb, the creator of Fritz the Cat (well, he liked more than butts, but still...); and Tinto Brass, an Italian director. Their part in the book leads me to another area where this book got criticized: the lack of text. And, yes, there isn't too much to read in this book. Oddly, the text is drawn on three columnns on the pages--first column in English, second in German, and third in French. If you're buying this book to read poetry about the female rump, or to hear why scientists say we love women's backsides, or delve into some erotic stories about the feminine seat, then you will be disappointed. But...are you SERIOUSLY buying this book for that? This book is made for PHOTOGRAPHS of the butts of women. It's meant to be a feast for your eyes, not your cognitive functions.
-6) It should be made clear that there is no hardcore in the book. This book is about lovely ladies and their backsides ONLY. So, if you're looking for penetration, or lovely ladies getting amorous with each other, you're going to the wrong place.
-7) Just to throw this out, if spanking is your thing, you might be a bit disappointed here. Eve Howard, apparently a huge figure in the retro spanking fetish area, is profiled as well, and her 16 pages here covers the majority dedicated to that area of discipline. That spanking is neglected doesn't bother me, but if you're expecting a red-fanny-palooza, you'll be disappointed by this book.
But let me make this clear: I was NOT disappointed by this book. It's a beautiful, BEAUTIFUL book, filled with lovely ladies displaying one of their most beautiful parts. It's a great time, and worth keeping. If you read this review and STILL don't like the book, then I guess you're just a lady-butt- loving elitist! Read more ›

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great conversation starter November 15, 2010

By Karen Alston

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is on a coffee table in the guest room of my house. It is a great conversation starter and a hit with most men that stop by or visit the house. I actually bought one as a gift for a male friend and he loves the book. I am working out extra hard in the gym and wanted to give my trainer a view of the "butt" I am trying to achieve. I love this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not amazing. January 4, 2012

By Valter S. Prieto Jr.

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I really liked the book, mainly the older photos, and the Buttman's text.
Sadly, as a brazilian, I found not the best brazilian buttocks, but only a famous one.
There are many better girls here in Brazil to be photographed. I think the research was not extensivelly done on the subject "brazilian butts".
Anyway, a good book for the price. Just would like to see some more explicit pictures. It is a bit too good behavior.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite a fitting gift for a butt lover. January 11, 2011

By Carl A. Hernandez

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I purchased this book as a gift for my brother who is a butt connoisseur, and judging by his reaction to it, I'd say it is quite the definitive collection of beautiful butts and how they were featured in the history of modern publication (did that sound like an educated enough version of plainly stating that this coffee table book ROCKS with the best of butts?)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Boyfriend Gift January 23, 2013

By Christina

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought this book for my boyfriend for Christmas. He is a butt man so I thought this would be an awesome gift for him and he loved it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars hubba hubba January 10, 2013

By chaka brown freeman

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

great book that was in great shape. cool content or should I say hot content. very striking to see poses from the 40, 50,60 and on. A history of ass!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars butts rule hard December 25, 2012

By weaponjae

Format:Perfect Paperback

this book rules. hard.

my girlfriend got it for me for my birthday. two months later, i proposed. coincidence? i think not.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Images. October 18, 2010

By Mauricio T. Miranda

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

You will find a vast number of images observing the diferente types of anathomy that the female genere can display. I recomend!