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This is an older book about kink, but I'm talking about it because I still frequently see it recommended to newbies now, and in that context, I think it has value, but in a lot of ways, comes up pretty short, too.

I think my primary issue is how desperately in need of an update this is. In particular, I think modern kinksters could use education on, say, how to use Fetlife, and the etiquette involved, because it's the thing we all use.

Will that look as dated as the sections about online stuff in this book are now in 5-10 years? Yeah, probably. But, that's the world we live in. shrug

Also dated, a lot of the language related to gender. Apparently this was updated from the original, because the original language was dated. Now it's dated again. Yeah. Listen, a lot can change culturally in a decade or two!

Aside from that, this isn't the absolute worst "kink 101" you'll find; possibly, it's even among the better ones. It's a lot of general information on how to do kinky things, safety and consent considerations, explaining terminology and getting a little bit into the "why we do this."

In general, you'd be better off going to some munches, taking the classes you find near you on Fetlife, and getting the rundown on your scene's etiquette from people who've been in the community for a while.

But if that's not available to you, sure, this is probably as good a book as any to pick up. Most of the information that isn't dated is more or less fine, if not necessarily universally agreed upon, and some of the scene descriptions might leave you feeling a certain kinda way. But I would hope anyone who reads this continues their education elsewhere to the extent that they can.