I got a copy of this for my 18th birthday and at first I was a bit embarrassed. I wondered if everyone thought I'd start having so much sex that I'd need the new positions, or maybe they thought that I'd just be boring. After my party ended and laughs had been had all around, I decided to look through the book.

First I noticed that it was a very pretty book, something you might find stashed in a classy toy drawer. I took awhile to admire the binding and the appearance of the book. It looked nice, even sexy. Red satin with Indian-esque floral in pink, words in blue and white with an attractive wood toggle. I wondered briefly why they didn't bind romance novels like that. While I wasted time doing all of this, I got up the courage to actually open it. (I'm odd, I know)

I finally opened it and what I found was not what I was expecting. I didn't really read the words, I was too struck by the pictures! At least half of the positions looked uncomfortable at best, and impossible at worst. I wondered what sort of torture this book expected people to put themselves through just to get off. Ah, how naive I was back then.

For the most part, I took inspiration from the book and put it into practice. The positions themselves scared me, but I wasn't unwilling to consider different angles and what not. Unfortunately for me, the guys I dated after that weren't very interested in experimenting, so I kind of forgot that I had the book at all. It lay lost and forgotten among various other odds and ends, living inside of a packing box until one day when my current beau and I hooked up. He fucked me so many ways that I suddenly remembered the book. Since that day, I've made it a goal to incorporate at least one thing from the book every time we have sex. And the sex is amazing.

So, the book is broken up into chapters. The chapter pages have pretty designs, similar to what my mother's wedding henna looked like.

Chapter one is called Society And Social Concepts.

Chapter two is called On Sexual Union

Chapter three is called About The Acquisition of a Wife

And Chapter four is On The Means Of Attracting Others to Yourself.

There are many sub-chapters to break things down even further.

They discuss in-depth various things relating to the title. It's similar to a debate class, where there's a blurb about the subject, then a lengthy back-and-fourth on various subjects. The whole read is quite similar to that of a text book. I suppose we could call it a sext book? The actual reading stops on page 286 but the numbering stops on 288. Not really the lightest read, but pretty much anyone could get through it if they really wanted to.

The words in the book are definitely directed toward men, but I think the same principals discussed could be translated to gals as well, if you're interested in the actual reading. If you're just going to skim through it and look at the pictures, have fun. I'd just like to let it be known that the photo on page 52 confuses me. I can't turn around with my guy in me, let alone, wrap my arm around him while balancing on one knee while he holds my foot. These people are so much more flexible than I am, it's disheartening. 146 looks like a good way to get an STI and 162 looks like a good way to pull something. Please use your better judgement before imitating the illustrations in this book.

So, while the book is somewhat intimidating and it does take the right kind of people to use it, it's quite useful.

Favorite thing I've taken from the book so far? I'd have to say learning to adapt the way I do things based on a vague idea, like penetration from X angle, standing/sitting during sex rather than just laying down, etc.

Now that I feel I've learned all I can from it, I have decided that it is time to pass the book on to my younger brother. He's read about half of it so far and seems to like it. It certainly helped spark my imagination.