The Ultimate Guide to Adult Videos: How to Watch Adult Videos and Make Your Sex Life Sizzle [Paperback]

Violet Blue (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2003

The Ultimate Guide to Adult Videos is the first complete resource to enjoying adult videos and DVDs. With wit, expertise, and an enthusiastic approach, sex specialist Violet Blue reviews the newest films as well as cult favorites and classics from the golden age of adult film. More than an indispensable viewer’s guide, the book also provides helpful advice for couples, including how to introduce adult films into your relationship; tapping into sexual fantasies; and the best sex positions for maximum viewing pleasure. Over 300 adult videos of every genre are reviewed. Also featured is a resource section listing books, magazines, and websites.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A splendid collection of tips, advice, insight, terminology, recommendations, and basic 'how to' information." -- YesPortal.com, December 4, 2003

"The Ultimate Guide to Adult Videos is certainly aptly-named....Worth reading, worth buying, worth keeping." -- Mike Ostrowski, Playboy

"Well written and informative." -- Adult Video News, January 2004

"You will want this gem of a book to guide and enhance your choices." -- Lou Paget, author, 365 Days of Sensational Sex

[Violet] Blue...delivers on all counts--and provides a glossary to boot--reviewing more than 300 videos... -- Library Journal, November 1, 2003

About the Author

Sex educator Violet Blue is the author of The Ultimate Guide to Fallatio and The Ultimate Guide to Cunnilingus. She is also editor of Sweet Life: Erotic Fantasies for Couples and Sweet Life 2. She lives in San Francisco.

Product Details

• Paperback: 340 pages
• Publisher: Cleis Press (September 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573441724
• ISBN-13: 978-1573441728
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #587,672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

The London Times named Blue "one of the 40 bloggers who really count"

"Violet Blue is omnipresent on the Web." -Forbes

"Violet Blue is the leading sex educator for the Internet generation." --Webnation

"America's leading (very) public intellectual sexologist, Violet Blue." --The Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies

Violet Blue (tinynibbles.com) is a top 25 Forbes "Web Celeb" and one of Wired's "Faces of Innovation." Blue is regarded as the foremost sexuality and technology futurist and sex-positive pundit in mainstream media (such as The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, Attack of The Show and The Tyra Banks Show). A published feature writer and columnist for CBSi/ZDNet, Violet also has many award-winning, best selling books. Her books are featured on Oprah's website.

She is regularly interviewed, quoted and featured prominently by major publications and media outlets including Wired (and Wired UK), Newsweek, MSNBC, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, Salon.com, BBC, CNN, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Cinematical, PBS: Mediashift, CBS, The History Channel, Esquire, Jane, Maxim, Marie Claire and more. Violet is the author and editor of over thirty award-winning, best selling books and was the notorious sex columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. She is a renowned blogger, high-profile tech personality, the first female podcaster, currently a reporter for long-running web TV show Geek Entertainment Television, and professional speaker, including two Google Tech Talks at Google, Inc.

Violet Blue's many books have won numerous awards and accolades and have been translated into seven languages. Blue connects with an audience of over 7 million a month with her podcast "Open Source Sex", named for the intersection of technology and sex, and the free-flowing information exchange of the open source software movement.

Forbes called her podcast "One of the Internet's most popular podcasts."

In addition to mainstream media features and guest blogging for sites such as Laughing Squid, Blue writes for media outlets such as Forbes, O: The Oprah Magazine, MacLife, and UN sponsored international health organization, RH Reality Check. She has contributed essays to eleven nonfiction books about sex and culture, and has been cited and quoted as a sex and future tech expert in print outlets ranging from Wired UK's "Experts Predict The Future" feature to David Levy's "Love + Sex With Robots."

Violet lectures about Internet sexuality to cyberlaw classes at UC Berkeley (Boalt; Samuelson Law Clinic), human sexuality programs at UCSF, volunteers as an advisor and instructor about sexual health and human sexuality to sex crisis counselors at community teaching institutions. She is considered an expert in the field of sex and technology, and has been invited to speak about the topic at conferences ranging from O'Reilly's ETech, Gnomedex, LeWeb and SXSW: Interactive and has given two Google Tech Talks at Google, Inc.

Oft-quoted and sourced, Violet has been a published writer in the field of sex and culture since 1999, was the first female podcaster and is a respected digital privacy advocate.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for Newbies! Porn is So Much Better Today!, August 6, 2006

By 

Jenifer M (Orange County, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Guide to Adult Videos: How to Watch Adult Videos and Make Your Sex Life Sizzle (Paperback)

As someone who has been recommending intimate videos to my girlfriends for years, I was anxious to see what I might learn from Violet Blue's, `The Ultimate Guide to Adult Videos.' As it turns out - if you're an experienced porn watcher - not much! (More on why not later.) But if you're a newbie, this book actually has a lot to offer!

For those of you who might be hesitant to watch porn, this book offers many reassurances, such as - people who watch porn are NOT compulsive masturbators, or - porn watchers DO enjoy regular sex with their partners, and, most significantly - watching porn will NOT affect your ability to have a meaningful relationship but, in fact, it might do just the opposite! (Hear, hear!)

On the positive side, the book also provides many GOOD reasons for watching porn, such as - to satisfy one's curiosity (and to expand one's horizons), as education, as entertainment before (or during) sex, or quite simply - to get off! On this last point, Violet offers a lot of encouragement particularly to women - to allow themselves to masturbate while watching porn - which, for men, is only second nature (like breathing)! Lastly, for couples, this tome does review the sensitive issue of how to view porn with a partner - especially when one partner is reluctant. (Luckily, my husband has never had this problem!)

Violet also reassures us - that it's not always necessary to attempt (in one's own bed) everything we might see in porn - and that it's ok for certain types of action to remain in the realm of `fantasy.' In fact, one of porn's strongest roles - is to dimensionalize (add realism) to our sexual fantasies. So even if your boyfriend watches some of the raunchiest porn imaginable - that doesn't require you to try it (or even admit to liking it, even if you do) - so long as he's able to separate fantasy from reality (which most men are surprisingly able to do.)

Probably the most useful sections of the book deals with the types of porn available, such as - feature films, educational videos, all-sex videos (all sex, no plot), to name just a few - as well as my favorite, girl/girl -- which is sometimes called lesbian videos, even though most of the performers are not true lesbians. So if you're unsure of what to watch, this book can add structure to the sometimes bewildering array of porn that's available.

On the downside, this book was published in 2003 -- just a few years ago - but a long time, unfortunately, in porn years! As a result, most of the movie titles it recommends - which make up about 2/3rds of the book - may be difficult, if not impossible, to find today (unless one looks in the classics or marked-down sections). Fortunately, some of the directors, studios, and series listed -- may still be around in some later incarnation.

There's also very little mention of one of the hottest new genres - gonzo -- in which the director interacts (verbally) with the actors -- which saves cost, since there's no script and no rehearsing - but results in some of the hottest, most spontaneous action you'll ever see on screen.

For the experienced porn watcher, this book also seriously dates itself by pointing out that the most prevalent and brazen type of (male) climax available at the time - were facials (an ejaculation served across a woman's face) - which are as useless and degrading back then as they are today! (Ladies, honestly, how often have you asked your lover to do this for you? If you're like me - how about NEVER!) Let's get real!

Fortunately, achieving a climax within a woman's body (on screen) is much more accepted and commonplace in porn today - which makes the action more realistic, more romantic - and much more emotionally satisfying to watch! (It's about time!)

As another nit, the book sadly has only a brief chapter on lesbian and girl/girl videos, which is a shame. And it mixes them with bi-videos (where the men do it with both men and women) which have an entirely different audience and a much more limited appeal.

Luckily, the author, Violet Blue, has a new book coming out, `The Smart Girls Guide to Porn,' which sounds well targeted - since its women who will probably seek out this type of info, especially in a book!

As a happily married (bisexual) female, here are my suggestions for what I'd like to see included in her new book - which this present edition was sorely lacking:

There are now genres of porn - which explore the lovingness of every orifice (such as oral and anal) - and the creative after-climax uses for a man's output (such as swallowing, swapping, and cream pies which is the oozing of ejaculant out of the orifice where it was deposited, plus other combinations of the above).

The natural eroticism of girl/girl should be more strongly highlighted - especially for women. In my own experiences, I've yet to meet a girl who doesn't like to watch two cute babes making love to each other. And I've also found that a woman's enjoyment of porn will increase tremendously - after she discovers girl/girl, which only makes sense since porn is about women - and women have always had an appreciation for the beauty of the fairer sex. (Said differently, it's harder to believe that porn exploits women, and to restrict one's own enjoyment - when pretty girls can now be an object of desire - for both men and women!)

Needless to say, a section of the book should be added to reassure MEN - that watching girl/girl videos will NOT turn their girlfriends or wives into lesbians! (Take it from me -- they won't!) Unfortunately, the most common reason I've found to explain why some women DON'T watch girl-only videos - is because their men don't (yet) approve. Fortunately, that attitude is quickly changing.

I didn't say this earlier, but back in 2003 - it was also taboo to mix boy/girl and girl/girl action - in the same scene. The thinking was (and still is) that guys will be turned off. But one of my favorite type of videos today is girl/girl/boy threesomes, where the girls are free to make love to each other early on (usually in the segment's opening) - and later all throughout the scene - even after their guy has joined in, which is pretty heady stuff!

As further expansion, the nastiest and most romantic of these girl/girl/boy threesome titles are probably more easily recognized under the `swapping' genre where the girls do just that orally with their lover's output - which, for me, is a great heterosexual reassurance - which allows the intimacy of the girl/girl action to go even higher! (As a watch-out, these videos are probably better suited to the more advanced porn watcher - but they are items which I suggest quite often - to my girlfriends who really enjoy porn!)

In conclusion, Violet Blue's `Ultimate Guide to Adult Videos' offers some timeless advice to overcome one's hesitation when it comes to watching porn. The plethora of videos it recommends, though - are hopelessly out-of-date! Fortunately, porn just keeps getting better and better - for both men and women! Enjoy.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars more than just a review book, June 8, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ultimate Guide to Adult Videos: How to Watch Adult Videos and Make Your Sex Life Sizzle (Paperback)

This is the ultimate consumer guide to porn and it's perfect for women and couples. The female perspecitve is utmost here and it shows you how to steer clear of low quality and female degredation while still finding really hot porn. This is an encyclopedia of modern adult film and nothing has been left out. History, backstories, profiles on interesting people in the business, lots of women-made erotic films and even softcore and mainstream titles are covered here. Nice sections on finding and selecting porn to suit individual's tastes. This book is a welcome relief and is intelligent, funny and free of the usual judgement and stigma in other porn writing. Blue treates porn like an independent film genre, and it's about time.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing, September 30, 2003

By 

"jmoo2" (TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Guide to Adult Videos: How to Watch Adult Videos and Make Your Sex Life Sizzle (Paperback)

I always thought I would watch adult movies if only there were any good ones! I was never very excited about adult movies but I am a fan of the author, and the video guide is not only her best book to date but made me want to go out and rent some of these movies. As a woman I am used to being insulted by adult movies, but the guide is written by an intelligent woman and she's pointed the way for me to find hot movies, and her recommendations have been right on the mark. She gives the reader a guide with which they can make informed decisions about what they do and do not want to watch. How refreshing.