I recently reviewed Tristan Taormino’s Expert Guide to Cunnilingus, and enjoyed it, so when the Expert Guide to Anal Sex came up, I happily volunteered for the job. Anal play isn’t a huge part of my sex life, and when it is my fingers and I are on the giving end. So I have room for a whole lot more information, and was sure that reviewing an anal sex guide would inspire some research and experimentation.

Unfortunately, although there is no indication of this whatsoever in the DVD title or description, this is strictly about anal sex for women. In my relationship, my husband enjoys receiving anal attention much more than I do, but the subject of heterosexual guys enjoying anal stimulation wasn’t mentioned even once. This was disappointing, even though the principles are the same for either sex.

The instruction can be summed up in four words: very slow, use lube. Essential advice, to be sure, but I hoped for more. The workshop scene is a little less awkward and stilted than the one that opened the cunnilingus DVD, with Taormino narrating the action in a way that conveys her enthusiasm for the subject. Much of the information, though, is no more in depth than what you’ll find here in reviews and product descriptions.

As entertainment, the scenes leave much to be desired. Taormino casts some of my favorite fetish porn stars in her Expert series (Lorelei Lee and Ariel X in this one, who seem to legitimately enjoy each other in the bonus girl-on-girl scene), but the hetero couples in the longer scenes don’t give off much heat. Ricki and Marcos are animated in their interviews, but both seem distracted during sex; and Marcos’s chest stubble, no thanks. Adrianna and Manuel are described as having “vast anal know-how”, although that didn’t come across in the scene. Their chemistry is much more intense than any other couple featured though.

I considered myself a total newbie in the world of anal play, so I expected more from an “expert guide” and didn’t anticipate finding that I already knew much of what was presented here. It’s more accurate to call it a comprehensive introduction for total beginners, but as such and even with its flaws, it’s superior to anything comparable.