Dr. Sadie Allison has written several sex guides, some of them very popular (eg., Tickle Your Pickle). Unfortunately, this is the only book of hers I've purchased. Still, I appreciate the good balance between brevity and thoroughness that she has struck in her work.

Dr. Sadie Allison's "Tickle Your Fancy" is a 90-page masturbation manual. Although the back of the book makes some pretty strong claims about its usefulness to all women, it's clearly geared towards women who have never masturbated before and who are a bit nervous about trying. The first chapter, "Masturbation is Healthy", basically tries to sell the reader on the idea that she should not feel guilty about masturbating. The second chapter explains basic female anatomy. In fact, the book doesn't even begin to get into actual masturbation techniques until chapter seven, and even then most of them are pretty basic. Unless your ears turn pink at the thought of touching yourself, or you masturbate but are severely lacking in the creativity department, this book is probably not for you.

That said, if you do fall into one of those two categories, this book could be an invaluable resource. This book will explain all your parts to you and how they work. It will give you ideas for getting in the mood that range from scented candles to hardcore porn. It will introduce all kinds of lube, dildos, vibrators, and anal toys, and the benefits of each. It will provide basic masturbation techniques, and a few creative ideas for going further, and after that, you'll be well-equipped to come up with some ideas of your own. And it will ensure that, while you're exploring all of these new things, that you know how to keep safe.

The book itself is fairly small, a bit longer and wider than a typical drugstore paperback, and much thinner. This makes it easy to tuck away in your nightstand or toy box, or even your bag when traveling.

Most of the illustrations, particularly near the later end of the book, are completely unnecessary and unattractive. Sometimes they're just confusing -- the opening illustration for chapter 12 ("Water Play"), for example, appears to feature a nearly-naked woman doing the can-can with an oil drum glued to her buttocks. I think they're intended to titillate, but given the art quality and the book's target audience, it just comes off as trashy page-padding.

Some of the illustrations, however, would actually be pretty useful for a beginner. There are several diagrams throughout the book that illustrate the anatomy of the vulva, clitoral masturbation strokes, and various types of sex toys. There's even a mini size chart that shows the actual thickness of dildos of different diameters for those of us who are a bit spatially-challenged (like me).

I bought this book as a new-but-not-nervous masturbator, and I found that the techniques section was the most useful part for me. Finding good info about basic female masturbation techniques can be difficult, probably because they seems so obvious to those who are in a position to share! Most of the rest of the information can be found online for free, but there are still benefits to having it in the book: you don't have to worry as much about getting faulty or dangerous information, and you have it all gathered in one place. I still refer back to this book every once in awhile, though I revisit some chapters more than others.