This is truly a memorable book. Count Kessler's life story is fascinating and Laird Easton is the writer to tell it. You can sense his learning, his devotion to the discipline of history and the art of storytelling, and most of all his sheer enthusiasm and wonder on nearly every page. Read it to understand the modern world -- the world we all still live in, and in some ways are stuck in, despite the po-mo claims of some who would have it that we have moved on -- and read it, too, for the sake of curiosity and simple pleasure. If you're reading this review at all then presumably you're a person who hasn't forgotten these things.

He seguido con atención los estudios del profesor Easton sobre la naturaleza de la Ciencia Política, así como el desarrollo y estudio de la disciplina que él ha desarrollado en perspectiva comparada. Es de gran interés conocer qué sucede con una disciplina como la Ciencia Política bajo un contexto democrático ya que, a simple vista, se tiende a pensar que en dicho marco debería de expandirse y florecer. Ese no parece ser el caso de la disciplina en el Chile actual. Es por eso que me interesa sobremanera conocer el contenido de este libro.

An invitation to spend the summer on Grandma Bates's horse farm leaves Elizabeth Hater with mixed feelings. In the past eleven years, Elizabeth has been near a horse only a handful of times, and she hasn't seen her grandmother even once. She'd rather spend the summer in New York studying water color panting. Yet, this might be just the opportunity she'd hoped for to learn about her mother, an accomplished artist and horsewoman, who died when Elizabeth was very young. But Grandma Bates seems more interested in the horses she raises for harness racing than in her granddaughter, and she won't talk about her daughter. Elizabeth feels more and more like an outsider until Carrie, her mother's childhood friend, and Maggie Last Chance, a spirited filly, draw her into her mother's world and she slowly begins to learn not only about her mother, but about her grandmother-and herself.

Everyone who is interested in environmental issues, whether it be for a class or for pleasure, should definitely purchase this book! It layers current day topics over the theory of other textbooks. This book is incredibly informative and worth 10 times its cost!!

So you've finished "Screw the Roses, Send me the Thorns" and still want more? If you're a Top, then this is the next step.

Dossie Eaton and Catherine Liszt combine to make for a very powerful read--a necessity since being a Top IS powerful

. They take you by the hand and lead you through the ins and outs of being a Top. Their handling of the rights and responsibilities of Tops is superb and the book itself is laid out in an easy to understand and straightforward manner.

They also provide many useful hints and tricks that every good Top should know. Not the least of these is how to handle a scene gone wrong, an important skill since you WILL make mistakes.

Most of all though, they dispell the myths surrounding Tops and show us for the people we are-- warm, caring, careful, and concentual. If you're wanting to be a serious Top, then you need a serious book...THIS book..

This book is the "companion" to The Bottoming Book and it makes a wonderful companion. I always enjoy the author's reasonably succinct and occasionally humorous style. They also use anecdotes to make a point.

The book covers a lot of topics important to Tops, including a Top Bill of Rights, How to get into 'Top space,' and what to do when a scene goes wrong. I think every Top would like to know what to do when that occasionally happens with a partner.

If you're a Top (and even if you're not), you should grab a copy of this book.

This is book was a very fun and informative read. It talks about the rights and responsiblities of the Top and what it is like to be a top. It tells you that Tops and bottoms are equals. I really enjoyed the chapter on the spiritual side of SM. I highly reccomend this one.

When I first started in Bondage some 20+ years ago, this was a very sensitive subject. Even today, in 2002, some people feel that bondage is for homosexuals and weirdos.So if you are having a hard time explaining your passion to friends and relatives, read this book it will help.There are better books on bondage though. Sm 101 by Jay Wiseman is one of the very best. Erotic Bondage by Wiseman is also excellent.Celebrate Life -

I bought this book to give to my sister. I ended up buying a second copy to keep for myself.
I don't think any book can be a substitute for an honest, thoughtful conversation, but this book certainly helps with those difficult questions that come up. It is very honest but gentle. It is easy to read, and full of compassion for both the nonkinky reader and the kinky person.
The surprise for me was how much I appreciated the book for myself. It includes a number of "coming out" letters the authors collected--letters kinky people wrote and wished they dared to send to their families and friends. Some of these were deeply touching.
There is such a sense of dignity and honesty in this book, it kept reminding me of reasons why being kinky person is something to be proud of. I ended up holding my head a little higher, feeling a little more confident and comfortable with myself.
And my sister loved the book too!

Discussing alternative and controversial sexualities is the raison detre of Greenery Press. This one goes further by directly addressing those not already in the choir (whether in or out of the closet). What a challenge! Even the authors acknowledge that they're so immersed in kink culture that they've lost a certain amount of objectivity.
The chapters follow the classic recipe for a successful scene: start slower than slow, lighter than light, and build up from there. A gentle introduction is followed by a check-in, with reminders to breathe and relax. Terms are defined, practices are described, and safety issues are given high priority. For the reader left wanting more, there's a resources guide.
Keeping in mind the reactionary skepticism I felt when one of my friends joined a religious cult, I wondered how effective this book would be in soothing a non-kinkster. Some of the more explicit passages - such as a lighthearted description of a birthday kidnapping orgy - might have Aunt Matilda calling for the funny wagon. This book would best be preceded by some deep heart-to-heart conversations between the loved ones, rather than offered as the initial coming out gesture. Perhaps it doesn't need saying, but I would recommend that the person coming out would benefit by reading the entire thing before offering it to Dad. Which brings me to an important point.
Easton and Liszt specifically address family, friends, mates, and health practitioners throughout the book. An unexpected side-effect was that I - an emerging-from-the-closet kinkster - found a deeper understanding and acceptance of myself and my desires. This could be the best BDSM introduction yet.

I received this book as a gift, being newly into gardening in the NW, and at first thumbing through I was a little puzzled. It appears to be more of musings then a 'real' garden book and I wondered how useful it would be for actual gardening. But once I started to read, I found this book to be such a delight! So many of the passages made me smile, so many made me want to laugh and all were inspiring. I really enjoy being able to pick this up and read a little on 'spooky' plants or the use of variegated leaves. This and the Western Sunset garden book are helping me make a great new garden here!

I'm so glad that I bought this book (irresistible cover!) and am getting acquainted with Easton's garden writings. Her advice makes good sense and the monthly "Now In Bloom" suggestions and photos are inspiring me to plant for a year round garden. How could anyone resist October's "Spooky Plants" list?

An excellent read! As an experienced gardener who is new to the climate of the Pacific Northwest, reading Plant Life was the perfect way to learn many of the nuances of gardening in this region. Valerie Easton not only speaks from considerable skill and practice, but also knows how gardeners think and the questions we ponder. Her essays amuse, inform and broaden your thinking, all at the comfort level of a neighborly chat over afternoon tea.

Gleaned from the author's highly popular weekly newspaper column, the text is well supported by the top notch photographs of her own garden (taken by Richard Hartlage, a fine author in his own right - see "Bold Visions for the Garden"). For those who wish to expand their gardening horizons, or simply enjoy good garden writing, I highly recommend this book.

For years I have tried to explain many of the topices covered in this book to new couples testing the waters of the swinging lifestyle. Now I have a book that I can recommend that covers most of the areas extremely well. An additional benefit of this book is that is is written by two women in the lifestyle. Many other books written on the subject are written by men and are looked at by women readers as just another man trying to convince women to be more sexually promiscuios. The only area that I wish the authors would have spent more time on is the subject of nurturing your primary partner and relationship while introducing them to the new way of living. All in all, this is the very best book I've found concerning open relationships and swinging. I would recommend it to anyone.

I'd probably have to write a much longer review on _The Ethical Slut_ except DehliaToo has already eloquently said almost all of what I'd like to say. So I'll start by agreeing wholeheartedly. I was actually coming to Amazon.com to purchase no fewer than 3 copies of this book. One for me (one of my lovers bought and loaned me a copy from her local bookstore so i don't have one yet), one for another lover as a late xmas present, and one to loan out--first to otherloves, my mother, father, grandmother, and other family and then to anybody who asks me anything about polyamory. (I'll look forward to the Nice Jewish Girl from New Jersey's book though--I also wish there were more evidence that poly is alive and well on the East Coast) It's that good. Believe it. (I'll add one of my loves quote on the book "This is a book I wish I could just buy a hundred copies of and hand to anyone who asks me anything about poly and say 'Here! Read this! Then we'll talk!'")

Like other reviewers, I've bought many copies of this and give or loan them out to friends, lovers, and people I'm interested in. Rather than duplicate other reviews in their glowing general praise (which would be easy), I'll go a step further and strongly suggest getting this book not because it will help you find multiple lovers or because it's a good read, or because it's full of helpful advice on relationships in general, but rather because without the advice and insight in this book polyamory is *really* hard to pull off. This book gives you many of the lessons you might not learn otherwise except by having dismal relationship failures and painful breakups. (These may still come anyway, but The Ethical Slut will help you avoid them, and cope if they happen). I can't recommend this highly enough. However, I would add the slight caveat that the somewhat hedonistic approach of Easton & Liszt can be balanced out fairly well by a follow-up reading of Anapol's Polyamory: The New 'Love Without Limits'. Anapol's work is not as "fun", and gets tediously naggy along "spirituality" lines that are very hippyish and and full of newage, but the message she conveys include a lot of responsibility and cooperation memes that are not as prevalent in Easton & Liszt's book. The two-book combo is really a must.

I think that "Encounter at Easton", is a great book. It's filt with exceitment, and adventure. I really like the way that Avi choose to write them. I thought that it was really cool that he wrote it in everyone's point of view. I would recomend it to anyone who liked the first one.

Most sequals aren't as good as the first book. This one was pretty good though.

i love the way it tells it from everyone's point of view! i couldn't stop reading it becase u always wonder what will happen next!

This 2001 edition of what I consider to be a classic BDSM book is expanded and improved. An additional 69 pages (I don't think that was on purpose) covers changes in the community and resources that are available. It focuses not solely on how to get what you want as a bottom but also how to give your top what they want -- this balance of advice can be difficult to find but Easton and Liszt have done a great job here. There are 10 different chapter that cover everything from basic "how do I feel about this" to "how to do X" to more rare and less physical aspects of some peoples' scenes. It is not geared toward any gender or orientation except it does not cover 24/7 or TPE couples in any way -- but those are advanced subjects and practices anyway. This is a book I have both bottoms and tops read in my household and among those I recommend books to. If you haven't read it, please do so even if you've been doing this for 40 years you can learn something or see something in a new light.

Having read a couple of other titles in the genre (but by no means exhaustively), I was very pleased to read both this book and its companion volume (Topping). As a relative newcomer to the scene, it was an affirming and welcoming approach to the psychological side of things, and gives a positive and comprehensive look at our reasons for playing the way we do, and without the increasing pointless status oriented bragging common to other information sources (along the lines of 'real' bottoms do this, 'real' tops do this). It gives examples of successes and failures, from many perspectives and I would recommend it to anyone wanting more information, and in particular, positive reinforcement of our choices.

Well written, clear, and concise... an easy to understand quick read... the cute illustrations even gave me a few ideas. Dossie and Catherine are always very good about including all genders, preferences, and relationships. Safety is stressed- as always. Well worth the time and few bucks.