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Voluptuous Panic: The Erotic World of Weimar Berlin Paperback – Illustrated, November 30, 2000

by Mel Gordon (Author)

47 customer reviews

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Between 1921 and 1933, Berlin developed a reputation for debauchery unrivaled by any city before or since. Unlike European capitals like Paris, Barcelona, and Amsterdam, where brothel districts were extensive but discreet, in Berlin sexual tourism was a primary industry. On any given evening, over 600 establishments, from massage parlors to sex clubs to cabarets to private torture dungeons, promised unique sights and pleasures. Using tourist guidebooks that appeared before the Nazi period, historical memoirs, and more than 400 specialized journals and books, Mel Gordon has put together a controversial exploration of Berlin's erotic demiworld and its relationship to the rise of Nazism.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An intriguing cache of recently discovered erotica from 1920s Berlin (photographs, theater programs, guidebooks and pictorial magazines) is on display in Voluptuous Panic: The Erotic World of Weimar Berlin. U.C. Berkeley theater professor Mel Gordon (The Grand Guignol) enhances the compelling visual images with snippets of personal memoirs, interviews and other sociological accounts that describe a sexually charged city brimming with prolific prostitution, homosexuality and drugs in the heady days before the Nazis came into full power.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product details

Paperback: 274 pages
Publisher: Feral House; Illustrated edition (November 30, 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 092291558X
ISBN-13: 978-0922915583
Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 0.8 x 11.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 47 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #706,677 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #170 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Pornography
- #2649 in Books > History > Europe > Germany
- #3851 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Pop Culture > General

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ReviewerTop Contributor: Boxing

August 23, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

There's an apocryphal story about David Bowie meeting Christopher Isherwood, author of "Berlin Stories." Bowie said something to the effect that it must have been exciting to be in Weimar Germany during the Roaring Twenties, what with the tycoons, transvestites, and spies all rubbing shoulders. At this point Isherwood felt compelled to let the relatively younger man know that he was a writer of fiction, and that the Weimar that fed his adventurous stories was very much fabricated.

The point of this anecdote is to highlight how elusive the reality of any bygone era is at a certain remove, and to further point out that Mel Gordon does the reader interested in the real history of Weimar a bit of a disservice by (by his own admission) ignoring anything that doesn't serve his sensationalist agenda. "Eroticism" is a subjective term, and while I didn't object to the S & M/ gender play content (or even the urolagnia/coprophagia), the sexualization of children glorified in the book (even if Gordon would deny this was his intent) was a bit much too stomach.

Taken in the right spirit, as something in the same vein as Kenneth Anger's "Hollywood Babylon," which is to say a kind of salacious bit of tabloid-style light reading, the book really isn't half bad. Some of the photos, flyers, and bits of artwork are essential Weimar memorabilia that help give the reader insight into Germany's ill-fated experiment with democracy in the post-Wilhelmine era. But those of a more scholarly bent beware: there is a bibliography, but no sources, and when I attempted to find external corroboration of many of the assertions in the book, the only results I got online led me right back to this book. That's a red flag right there. Tepid recommendation.

21 people found this helpful

The Sensational Show Hitler Closed Down

July 12, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

A rare visual cataloguing of the sensational show that was the Weimar Republic in Berlin. Thanks for letting me know about it, Amazon!

One person found this helpful

March 2, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I really love this book, and I think that it is a must read for anyone interested in Weimar Berlin or erotic entertainment. The only reason I didn't give it five stars was that the format of the e-book was a little messed up. To be honest, though, this doesn't surprise me as it is published by Feral House, which is one of the less scrupulous independent publishers.

3 people found this helpful

Weimar Erotica Catalogued!

May 27, 2017

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A voluminous, encyclopedic overview and detailed analysis of a forgotten time. With graphic photos, all placed in proper context. A must for any student of social development, or theatre director looking for how to stage works from this period.

One person found this helpful

Lawrence Bizarro

Detailed And Disturbing

August 25, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

A startling but detailed account of the Weimar era of Berlin. Enough information to actually be a textbook if someone were teaching a course on the subject. A dense and disturbing book, not for the faint of heart.

One person found this helpful

An amazing record of a time and place

December 15, 2000

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The vision of Weimar Berlin as a bastion of decadence in increasingly Nazi-fied Germany is perhaps due in large part to our familiarity with the musical "Cabaret" or with Isherwood's "Berlin Stories." But in fact, the available documentation for that vision has been pretty slim until recently.
Mel Gordon has spent years assembling the material he shares in this amazing book. Be warned; this is not a pleasant book to read. The images can be disturbing or downright upsetting, and the information therein is similarly unsettling. It is, however, an invaluable resource for any student of the period as it makes available material that has simply not been widely seen outside of Germany.
If you are as fascinated as I am with the period between the wars, this book is a must-have. It gives depth to the glossy, Hollywood version of Berlin decadence, and shows it to be born as much out of poverty and hopelessness as out of the free expression of sexuality/sensuality. And please do take quite seriously the warning: This book is NOT for the faint of heart.

86 people found this helpful

Voluptuous Panic by Mel Gordon

July 5, 2007

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Excellent book, which had lots of information regarding Berlin, Germany in the wild 20s. I only wish there was more in depth material to read and more photo's. Especially interesting was the "Occult" section, which could have had a more in depth coverage, but I'm not complaining. Dietrich Eckhart, who belonged to a number of Occult Societies introduced Hitler to Ernst Rohm The Criminal Elements or crime section was also heady. Overall, well put together and very interesting. I think including the individuals and activies of some subversive groups in Berlin at the time would have been helpful in understanding the rise of Naziasm in the 20's. I understand there were a number of "White Russian" exiles that supported Hitler's cause.

6 people found this helpful

Dala K. Campbell

redacted history revealed

December 22, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Depends on your curiosity what you will fine amusing or of interest. There is little doubt that man and woman have kinky desires. I found it informative and humorous, sometime peaking my own interests in the realm of sexuality.

2 people found this helpful

Most recent customer reviews

pre world war II berlin was out of control. ...

pre world war II berlin was out of control. this book documents some of the social excesses before the nazis clamped down on everything.

Published 2 months ago

William T. Luther

This book was FAR more "adult" than I expected. ...

This book was FAR more "adult" than I expected. Although I'm no prude and certainly not opposed to pornography there were several lithographs reproduced in the book that...Read more

Published 5 months ago

exactly as the title states.

Published 6 months ago

Joseph S. Cavalieri

not a good as I expected

Published 7 months ago

Good summary of 20-30s Berlin nightlife

An interesting summary of 1920s and pre-war Berlin nightlife. Neither of the establishments mentioned survived the war, but it is interesting to imagine the world of yesterday.

Published 1 year ago

Joe Dan Richardson

I have often wondered why God would allow Germany to ...

I have often wondered why God would allow Germany to be destroyed in WWll. I purchased this book for a little insight into conditions in Germany before Hitler came to power.Read more

Published 1 year ago

A Grotesque World

A disturbing look into the decadent era of the Weimer Republic.

Published 1 year ago

Informative Book About Human Rights Violations of Weimar Berlin Authored by a Supporter of the "Sexual Revolution"

Every once in a while I read a book written by people who entirely different from me. Before this book, I read a one about Jihad in Europe by a "progressive" homosexual.Read more

Published on November 30, 2015

Amazon Customer

He excites our imaginations as he tells us what it must have been like in Germany in those days

This book will make you wince. It provides a tantalizing glimpse into a the breakdown of an overly ordered society. Germany in the twenties went kind of crazy.Read more

Published on November 2, 2015

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