Newsday, March 27, 2006
READ ALL ABOUT IT, Authors of new how-to's on sex say people want -- and need -- more information
By Pat Burson
Passion. Pleasure. Amazing sex.
These are just a few of the titillating topics waiting between the covers of several new how-to sex books on the market.
With so many sex books on the market, you might wonder if writers and publishers think most people are bumbling idiots in the bedroom. Instead, experts say, the subject has become easier to talk about publicly and people have an appetite to know more.
"There's always a need for people to have sources that will help them improve or repair their sex lives," says Sari Locker, a sex educator based in Manhattan and author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Amazing Sex" (Alpha, $19.95), now in its third edition. (And, no, she doesn't think you're idiots.)
"It's often difficult for people to reach out to their doctor or to see a sex therapist when they have a problem. They might think that it's embarrassing. They might have a hard time talking to their partner about sex, so they'll have problems talking to a stranger about it."
Locker's 480-page book covers sex information, sex therapy and sexual creativity. While most of it offers tips to spice up your sex, it also covers topics including AIDS and other diseases, birth control and sex at different stages of life, including during pregnancy and in the older years. "It's marketed to people from college age to the elderly and everyone in between," Locker says. "It covers everything from deciding if you should have sex, but then it covers issues for people who have been married for years and years."
The guide also has an eight-page middle section with color photographs of a man and woman demonstrating unique sexual positions, including one called "The Butterfly." "The photos are more instructional than erotic," Locker says. "This isn't something I put in the book to turn people on."
(Note: This is an abridged version of the article)