Kim Cattrall Sexual Intelligence (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This may well be the sexiest coffee table book ever created. A companion to the HBO documentary of the same name, Sexual Intelligence is a follow up title to Kim Cattrall's simpler, more technical Satisfaction: The Art of the Female Orgasm. Gorgeously sensual photos and a sprinkling of poetry cozy up to science, combining experts like Betty Dodson and Thomas Moore with Sappho and Georgia O'Keefe; this time around, the goal is exploration, rather than instant delivery.

Specifically, all this lush intelligence directs itself towards education about why we want what we want. After poring over the five lovely chapters (Desire, Messaging, Arousal, Fantasy, and Release), you still might not have a definite answer, but the final pleasure far outweighs the impression of flightiness. Straightforward explanations of anatomy (a definite step up from school health class) intermingle with tales of ancient gods and goddesses that liven up facts, while the layer of glamour over all wraps the package in a big fluffy bow. Shots of classic paintings mix equally with shots of Kim, each providing eye candy that is tailored to please.

Six "average folks," ostensibly representing a wide sample of sexual interests and ideas, provide quotes throughout the text; sometimes offering a complex thought, other times simply throwing in something along the lines of, "I drive a nice Porsche so I can get chicks." While their voices do help make the book more representative of the general population, it still feels like a book aimed mostly at straight women--which might make it a very handy title for straight men to keep in their living rooms.--Jill Lightner

Amazon.com Interview with Kim Cattral

Amazon.com: Can you explain what you've got in mind by the phrase "sexual intelligence"?
Kim Cattrall: A person who knows what they like! And has some idea why. Intelligence is traditionally defined -- Webster's for example would define intelligence as success in coping with situations and solving problems. Intelligence can also mean a collection of useful insight and information that enriches understanding. I used the word "intelligence" in the title of the book and the documentary because it reflects my desire to gather whatever insights, inspirations, and information that could nourish the part of us that is sexual and sensual, so that it might be strong and function well.
Amazon.com: What was the starting point for Sexual Intelligence?
Kim Cattrall: My previous book Satisfaction: The Art of the Female Orgasm was unabashedly a how to, complete with colored arrows and schematic diagrams by way of demonstration. People responded so positively the book -- they wrote me these amazing letters and I could see there remained an enormous amount to explore and learn -- for myself as well as everybody else. Orgasm is fabulous, but I realized I had started at the end of the story. Writing a book on how to satisfy sexual desire lead me to become more interested in what its roots and sources actually are. What inspires arousal in the first place? Where does it come from? What can it tell us? How does it keep us engaged with the world?
Amazon.com: Of the five chapters (Desire, Messaging, Arousal, Fantasy and Release), the one on desire is by far the longest. What makes this topic so much more important?

Courage! [Samantha Jones] was courageous and totally without prejudice.

Kim Cattrall: The idea of "desire" is really the central theme of the book. At one point I even thought of calling the book "desire" but it sounded too much like another celebrity fragrance, you know -- Kim Cattrall: Desire. But really, an investigation of desire was the key idea growing out of my previous book. It’s funny, in a way this book is almost like a pre-quel to my previous book Satisfaction 'cause without desire, there ain't no "satisfaction." Something that came up right away in regard to desire or arousal, is that men and women tend to experience it differently and of course we wanted to include both points of view, so that made the chapter even longer!
Amazon.com: Your book draws on so many eras and cultures. Which one is the most inspirational for you?
Kim Cattrall: Looking at the stories and images that have informed and given expression to erotic impulses over the centuries was fascinating to me. They help give shape to the individual struggles and joys we experience through sex

The classical era of Greece and Rome are endlessly fascinating because those cultures so openly celebrated sex on both a literal and a metaphorical level.

and also show what an enduring and central role sexuality plays in being human. The classical era of Greece and Rome are endlessly fascinating because those cultures so openly celebrated sex on both a literal and a metaphorical level. Their worship of the phallus mines a very rich vein of human drives and drama. The mythical figure of Aphrodite or Venus, the great Goddess of love, is an invention of pure cultural genius in how well it expresses the complexity, allure and power of sexuality.
Amazon.com: Satisfaction: The Art of the Female Orgasm came about in relation to your character on Sex in the City. How did your role as Samantha Jones influence this project?
Kim Cattrall: Courage! She was courageous and totally without prejudice. She was also self-accepting. Those are three valuable characteristics that I had the benefit of continually rubbing up against in the skin of Samantha Jones and I believe they came strongly into play on this project.
Amazon.com: What was the most surprising thing you learned while working on the book?
Kim Cattrall: Well, after living inside Samantha Jones for 6 years, you would think nothing would surprise me! But I learned an ENORMOUS amount. Even in areas that are very familiar, like looking at parts of the body or discussing the differences between men and women. I think "revelation" might be a better word -- there were so many instances of insight -- moments of -- "Aha, so that explains it!" Sexuality is such a vast subject and so complex. You realize you've been going on a trickle of knowledge when there's like gushing waterfall out there.

Examining the underpinnings of eroticism was very exciting.

Some of the most revelatory material to me centered on new brain research and learning about what actually happens to us on a physiological and biochemical level during arousal, and even throughout a sexually charged relationship. Another area that offered so much new insight was learning how sexual fantasies actually function and how better to approach and understand them, even when they're quite odd -- which of course, being fantasies, they certainly can be. Also, examining the underpinnings of eroticism was very exciting. It's like we live with all of these images -- icons really -- like the dominatrix, the masked man, the naked half beast, or even from a classical standpoint, Venus on the half-shell. The images are achingly familiar, they've been with us for centuries, but what ever are they supposed to actually mean? Getting into all of that was extremely enriching. Images like those endure for reason. They speak to something elemental and universal.

From Publishers Weekly

In an attempt to give readers a greater understanding of the sources and inspirations of sex, Cattrall, aka the seductive Samantha Jones on Sex and the City, has wound up producing a weird mix of art book and sex manual, addressing the roots of desire, messaging, arousal, fantasy and "release." The text isn't written in the first person (in fact, there are references to "we"), and Cattrall's well-known sexiness isn't glaringly on display, with the exception of grainy images of her smirking as she holds an oyster, or dressed up as a dominatrix, floating in what appear to be Photoshopped clouds. Other pictures feel like stock photography (indeed, the credits at book's end confirm this): a photo of a zucchini next to a paragraph on nicknames for the penis; a sepia-toned shot of two feet crossed, with a daisy tucked between two toes, alongside a section on "lust and laughter." The same interview subjects (identified by first name and a head shot only) are quoted throughout; readers learn, for example, that Natasha doesn't like the way her vagina looks, nor is she attracted to "the metrosexual, hair-product type guy." Master works of art—a carving of a vulva found in a cave in France; Antonio Canova's marble sculpture of lovers embracing—are used to beautiful effect, but don't help the book rise from fluff to something of substance. (Oct.)
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Bulfinch (October 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821261754
• ISBN-13: 978-0821261750
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #578,875 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars You can't judge this book by its cover!, November 10, 2005

By	BuzS "buzs" (ny, ny) - See all my reviews

Other than for those whose sexual IQ is at the moronic level, there is very little here that any adult would not already know. The very sexy picture of a naked Kim on the cover is totally deceptive, since inside there is exactly one photo of a naked woman and man from the rear. Most of the rest of the illustrations that are not of flowers are of classical paintings and sculptures of unclothed, but unstimulating, mythological figures -- fine for an art history book, but not for a book about sex. The very few pictures of Kim inside are totally asexual -- and were apparently all taken on the same day as she's wearing the same raincoat and unrevealing (not even attractive!) clothing underneath. Beyond the disappointing illustrations, the content is mostly a collection of not very original or interesting quotations from a few familiar works on sex such as Thomas Moore's "The Soul of Sex". Seven individuals -- described as extraorinary 'ordinary' people in the introduction -- are also quoted throughout the book. From their photographs, they all appear to be in the same age group (20-30ish) so there's no diversity, and their remarks are rarely gripping, e.g. the highlighted comments of "Cayra" are rather blah: "The idea of being watched. I don't know why that's such a turn-on. That's kind of odd, I don't know, I can't explain why that would turn me on." A big baffling 'duh' from one of the extroardinary ordinaries.
With its huge print fonts and minus the illustrations, the 130 pages here could have been reduced to probably less than 20 pages -- so at $30 there's absurdly little value. I enjoyed Kim's earlier book on sexual techniques, so I was really bummed to have her follow-on volume fail utterly to inform or entertain.

53 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV, November 15, 2005

By	Pedro Delgado (El Paso, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is just what I would expect from a movie and TV personality... not very intelligent at all. It tries too hard and takes itself way too seriously. Kim Cattrall seems like a somewhat intelligent woman, but why did she think that playing a sexually liberated woman like Samantha on "Sex and the City" made her an expert in sexuality? Ms. Cattrall does not reveal anything new about human nature in this book. There are no revelations here... just a pretty coffee book with endless cliches. Did you guys know that bio-chemistry had alot to do with human sexuality? IMAGINE THAT! and, I bet you did not know that your BRAIN is the most inportant sexual organ. Gosh darn it, I guess I better start using mine! If you are really interested in sexuality (and you should, because it is an important aspect of human nature), there are much more intelligent books than this. Don't go for this Hollywood/HBO slick job.

40 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surpisingly delightful, October 25, 2005

By	Dr. Lee D. Carlson (Baltimore, Maryland USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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After perusing the fine contours of the figure on the cover of this book, one will eventually open it and find, surprisingly, a very interesting read. It is not the frivolous, banal, and empty self-indulgent prattle that one usually finds from celebrities these days. Instead, the author has allied herself with people that have the needed expertise and quotes recognized researchers. However, it is not an advice manual, but instead attempts to present to a general audience a rational view of human sexuality, to develop a notion of what the author calls `sexual intelligence.'

And who says there cannot be a science of sex? Many of the standard methodologies appear: geometry via the cylinders, cones, triangles, and spheres of all different sizes; physics via friction and the large expenditures of energy; biology via the flow of blood and the abundance of neuronal synapses. One supplements this science with aesthetics: with poetry, art, and imagination. The result is a complex picture, but one definitely worth examining, and of course eventually indulging oneself in: any real science requires experimentation.

For its size, the book is full of interesting information and some surprises. One would like a more detailed reference list, but if one overlooks this oversight it is worth the time. Important contemporary issues arise in the discussion early on. One of these concerns the belief that the ability to get and maintain a rigid cylinder via the use of the big-pharm potions of lust does not imply one will optimize one's pleasure. Sexual pleasure is the result of carefully planned choreography as much as it is a spontaneous random walk. Typically the cylinder enters the triangle, but it can also walk into the other hallways. Sometimes the fit is tight, sometimes loose, and sometimes momentary. Geometry again is the final arbiter.

And do the holders of the XX chromosomes have needs identical to the holders of the XY? Not really, writes the author, the XX has "more plasticity" than the XY, and when indulging in fantasy has a greater likelihood to create "complex narratives". To most readers, these claims will not be new, and are in fact very believable. Experience with the XX reinforces these beliefs, as does a reading of the history in this book (albeit very brief).

As expected, many photos of the author decorate the inside of the book. They do not detract from the case she is presenting, but they do serve to distract (in a delightful way of course). The other photos included in the book are also tastefully done and serve to remind the reader of the cultural context in which sex has been displayed.

This will no doubt not be the last book written by a celebrity on sex, but it does stand out from the rest in its attempt to present a case that is based on what is known in the scientific and historical community, even if the discussion is brief. Further refinement of what is presented is needed if one is to develop a more detailed notion of sexual intelligence. The author's approach is both fun and interesting, and is a good start to such a project.