This book is written by a sex educator at Good Vibrations, one of the first educational sex stores in North America, which makes her pretty darned qualified to write the book on its own, but she's also done extensive research and surveyed a whole whack of women and men. The quotes from these surveys are great, presenting a wider range of experience and opinion than just the author's. The book is also laid out well, starting with myths that might prevent people from going down, through anatomy and basic techniques to those extras that make good oral sex great. Especially notable is the section on positions for injured or disabled people, a rare thing in most books. It's a great primer for those new to the sport, or a great reminder for experts. Violet Blue's writing is quite chatty, and her personality shines off the page. I found the casual tone grating at times: in talking about the wonders of the human tongue, she writes that without it "we'd be up the proverbial creek without our little pink paddles." An odd image, to say the least. Later on, she also talks about an "optimal position for parting the furry seas" of pubic hair around the anus. That actually made me cringe, and not because it's crude or too blunt, but just because it's a terrible metaphor. Who wants to envision their ass hair as the rolling waves of an ocean? And even though it's written by a Good Vibrations sex educator and published by a company well respected in the field of sexuality, it's best to be cautious about some of the information regarding STIs and anatomy, which was inaccurate, or at least poorly worded, at a couple of points.
