Title: The Sex Bible: The Complete Guide to Sexual Life Author: Susan Crain Bakos; Photographer: Allan Penn Publisher: Quiver Books Publish Date: 2006 Pages: 256 Genres:: How-To Guide, Non-Fiction, Self-Help, Straight Reviewer: J. Henry

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The Bible itself is a preeminent scripture noted for its authoritativeness and wide readership as to the story of creation. Susan Crain Bakos’s The Sex Bible serves as (what can be hoped) the paramount book on sexuality from obtaining the most pleasure during intimacy from foreplay to oral to intercourse.

Approached as an author, The Sex Bible’s Susan Crain Bakos seems to be a reputable source having written articles for Redbook, Cosmopolitan and serving as the ‘Superlady of Sex’ for Penthouse. Bakos is also the author of the best-selling book Sexational Secrets, subtitled to be the ultimate guide in erotic know-how. In writing the Sex Bible, she compiles information she has learned firsthand, in interviews and research to provide a thorough guide that starts at the point we all hope will lead to sexual satisfaction: seduction.

The Seduction chapter mentions elements that should encourage you and your partner to go further, such as massages that include kneading or stroking. Eye contact is mentioned as a key for women to gain a man’s attention from afar while research shows that women respond more to men who approach them respectfully and don’t automatically reference a body part or show immediate interest in bedding her. Each chapter thereafter enlightens the reader on how to better entice your partner during foreplay, gain pleasure during oral, be a bit more adventurous during intercourse, and how to achieve as many powerful orgasms as possible.

The latter half of Sex Bible touches on Tantric sex, sex toys, and sacred sexuality rounding out all the parts of the book in eight distinctive sections. The Intercourse section is the longest, referencing variations on the basic six positions: female superior, missionary, rear entry, side by side [or spoon position], sitting and standing. Photographs accompany each position while some also illustrate the different takes that Bakos references accompanied by text boxes from people who corroborate to a positions success.

Bakos peppers each chapter with Essential Skills that can entice your partner (male or female) with maneuvers such as The Seductive Kiss or The Butterfly Quiver to better help a woman orgasm during intercourse. There are also Technical Tips on how to create his or her multiple orgasms or The Cat or Coital Alignment Technique to have “an old-fashioned simultaneous orgasm in the missionary position.”

There are also Women, Men, and Couple Stories of how exploration helped them unleash their inner sexual beings, and monologue boxes entitled ‘Real Talk’ convey specifically what helped him or her to get aroused by the Technical Tip mentioned on the same page. A woman and her boyfriend note how great the Passion Flower Position was in stimulating her clitoris and allowing her boyfriend to “enjoy[ing] her arousal and not worry about coming.” The layout and information is reminiscent of one of the ‘Idiot’s Guide’ series on sex, with these ‘Real Talk’ testimonials of couples in different stages of life who confirm the success of information dispensed in this new volume of sexual reference.

Not only a sexual reference, The Sex Bible can also be considered a coffee table book with the abundance of photography of male-female couples illustrating the chapters A-heads and B-heads. One photograph that is particularly appealing as an aesthetic piece is the opening photo for the first chapter, Seduction. A lovely brunette lies nude on a bathroom counter, the top half of her body is arched over a bowl-shaped sink as her lover carefully washes her hair, her legs are propped up on an identical-looking sink at the latter end of the counter revealing a his/her bathroom setting. The ecstasy of the female as she perks up her breast and shifts her legs seems delightful even though the body positioning doesn’t look like it would be comfortable over time. This photograph beautifully conveys a feeling without being overly graphic of a sensual act.

An apt title for this “complete guide of sexual love” may be ‘The Heterosexual Sex Bible’. Beyond a quick reference to fantasies in the back, homosexuality is not referenced throughout. Even though flirting, oral and some intercourse techniques can be carried over to male-to-male or female-to-female couples the focus is on heterosexuality, which makes this reference limited in scope. The tips on oral could be a bit more detailed in description and illustration. The genitals are not in view in any picture throughout. While many of the photos are nice to look at they do not all serve instructional purposes, particularly in chapter three, Oral. A guide such as this is trying to approach readers from an introductory level, as such it should also make sure to fully illustrate what areas someone should focus on as the description of how to stimulate the clitoris while also enticing the vagina or anal opening of your female lover may not be completely comprehended in bullet or numerical form.

The Sex Bible does provide some new insight to spice up old tricks but could still be considered a beginner’s guide on how to entice, arouse, and satisfy your partner. What it all comes down to is if you and your partner are open-minded and comfortable enough to speak of your desires/fantasies in addition to acting on them afterwards. Overall, it is a helpful book but if you’ve read many others before this one, the information may seem repetitive.