Great Sex: A Man's Guide to the Secret Principles of Total-Body Sex (Hardcover)

by Michael Castleman (Author) "Does a great basketball player shoot with just his wrist?..." (more)
Key Phrases: expressing orgasm, bloodflow into the penis, genital bloodflow, Louanne Weston, University of California, Dennis Sugrue (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In this comprehensive sex manual, Castleman, a sex educator, counselor and journalist specializing in men's sexuality, leads readers through the pleasures and pitfalls of heterosexual copulation and its accoutrements. Illustrated with artful charcoal drawings and peppered with bon mots like "great sex is a combination of friction and fantasy," the book breezily covers a wide swath of the sexual arena, everything from the perennial libido crusher, male impotence, to questions of hygiene, like female douching. The author doesn't really reveal any new "secret principles." The Q&A section, for example, covers the same topics that most on-air sex therapists have been discussing since the sixties: e.g. "During sex with my girlfriend/wife, I have fantasies of other women. Is that okay?" and "Is it okay to masturbate as much as I do?" Still, Castleman does arrange and clearly present a wealth of information-from descriptions of the sexual positions that are most likely to bring a woman to orgasm to a careful discussion of how couples can regain intimacy in the wake a sexual trauma, such as abuse, rape or stalking. Combined with the author's calm, practical tone, such breadth is likely to win him many readers. 25 b/w illustrations.
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Review
". . . Castleman provides men with the tools to discover truly great sex -- and he gives women a reason to celebrate!" -- Anne Semans, co-author of The Good Vibrations Guide to Sex

"After reading Great Sex, all I can say is: His wife is one lucky woman." -- Betty Dodson, Ph.D., sexologist and author of Sex for One and Orgasms for Two

"Castleman will teach you how to rock a woman's world while getting exactly what you want in the process." -- Nicole Beland, Men's Health magazine columnist and author of Ask the Men's Health Girl Next Door

"Michael Castleman . . . explains clearly and persuasively why slow, sensual sex is the key to both men's and women's erotic pleasure . . ." -- Michael Jonas, co-developer of the sensual couple games An Enchanting Evening and SexSational, and co-author of The Book of Love, Laughter, and Romance

After reading Great Sex, all I can say is: His wife is one lucky woman. -- Betty Dodson, Ph.D., sexologist and author of Sex for One and Orgasms for Two

Castleman will teach you how to rock a woman"s world while getting exactly what you want in the process. -- Nicole Beland, Men's Health magazine columnist and author of Ask the Men's Healt

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Rodale Books (January 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579547370
• ISBN-13: 978-1579547370
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #453,719 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #46 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Sex > Sex Instruction > Men
  #51 in	Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Sociology > Men

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Laurie Watson, LMFT, LPC, sex therapist, December 11, 2004

By	Laurie Watson - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've been looking for a book for many years to recommend to male clients that teaches how to really touch a woman. Working with women struggling with low desire, I know that, too often, low libido results from her partner's poor technique and a lack of education about a woman's sexual response. Most men learn about sex either from pornography which is completely misleading or from experience which may or may not have taught him what he needs to know. Even sexually experienced men may not know what really turns a woman on. Castleman has produced the best comprehensive book that I know of, to educate and help a man become a superior lover.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A remarkable amount of knowledge, February 6, 2004

By	Lacey Savage (Ottawa, Canada) - See all my reviews

What's not to like about a man who is confident in bed, knows how to please a woman, can always get an erection on command, and can have long-lasting, satisfying sex every time? Wait - you say that's not you? Read GREAT SEX, by Michael Castleman, and it will be.

Michael Castleman makes it clear that he's not a doctor, or a sex therapist. He does have thirty years of experience dealing with men's sexual issues, however, as an educator and a journalist. This experience shows in every chapter of GREAT SEX. The first part focuses on "The Principles of Great Sex for Men". This is where the author's main theme for the book comes in: stop trying to perform like a porn star, and start using your entire body to pleasure yourself and your partner. Each one of the senses should be involved in lovemaking, and Michael Castleman gives great examples of how to make that happen. The second part focuses on women's sexuality and well being, but keeping in mind that the book is targeted at men, this is more of a learning lesson than an owner's manual. Still, the advice and knowledge offered here is invaluable. In the third part, the author focuses on blending the best of both male and female sexual issues. Birth control, oral pleasure, aphrodisiacs - you name it, you'll find it here.

Somehow managing to avoid sounding clinical and detached, and yet also maintaining a friendly, conversational tone throughout the book, Michael Castleman offers a remarkably comprehensive tome between the covers of this hardbound book. Pick it up today if you're looking for a new way to please yourself, and your partner. You may be surprised at what you didn't know, and how much more satisfying your sex life can be.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Sex bears repeating , August 6, 2004

By	K. E. Kwasny "leejogger" (Virginia Beach) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Some things bear repeating and the efficacy of Michael Castleman's book Great Sex, is one of them.
Nowhere will a reader find another work that provides so much insightful information on how men and women can work together to create delectably healthy sexual relationships. From lackluster sex to male performance anxiety to the dearth of knowledge surrounding the female sexual response, Castleman tackles virtually every sexual issue affecting couples today.
According to Castleman, Great Sex is something a couple creates together, not something innate or imitated.
One of Castleman's most salient points comes in his discussion of media messages (primarily those conveyed through pornography) and how they wreak havoc on our personal sexual relations. He encourages us to understand that real life luxurious sex is far better than media inspired sex -- where there seems to be a rush to the genitals and then to intercourse.
Men who read this work will find a wealth of information and advice regarding penis size, ejaculatory control, masturbation, female pleasure, and the changes that come with age and that can occur through diet and exercise. I do believe men will breathe a sigh of relief when reading this book, for it lets them know they are not alone in their sexual struggles. As a woman, I was surprised to find that the majority of men experience sexual problems, too, and delighted to learn that my husband's problems were not problems at all, but common aspects of male sexuality.
There is another equally important way men will benefit from this book, and that is in the way it normalizes women as well. That is, Castleman has finally provided men and women with a book that doesn't approach female pleasure as if it were an anamoly, a mystery never to be solved. I've read many books for men about female pleasure, and most of them talk condescendingly about women's sexual response or they convey the notion that it is something that can never be understand because each woman is so different in terms of how she responds to sexual stimuli.
Castleman, however, approaches this subject outside the cloak of mystery and makes women's slower and more individualized sexual response easy to understand, completely normal, and full of potential. He stresses the normalcy of the vast majority of women who cannot orgasm through intercourse alone (a fact so important that Castleman, thankfully, repeats it on a number of occasions), and in doing so, Castleman encourages men and women to discard the age old belief that women, like men, should orgasm through intercourse and asks us to explore all the other avenues that can lead to orgasmic pleasure for both men and women.
This request alone erases the idea of foreplay (previously understood as a prelude to the real thing - intercourse) and makes all we do (kissing, touching, stroking, rubbing, licking, loving) the feature show. Moreover, it slows the pace of sex for both men and women and increases their potential ten fold for the kind of sex that will leave them completely sated and eager for the next encounter.
This is a must read for anyone who would like to experience - for a lifetime -- GREAT SEX.
leejogger