The centerpiece of this book is the World Whore Conferences. Although theirs is often called “the world’s oldest profession,” it is not often that these “professionals” are taken this seriously or afforded such an opportunity to articulate their views. The book begins with a history of prostitute rights organizations which overlaps with many feminist issues, then describes the setting and logistics of the conference. The majority of the book is a series of fascinating first-person narratives which touch on everything from health concerns to socially generated stigmas. Ultimately it is the politics surrounding sex that gets diverse and bizarre, as sex itself is pretty universal. This context of the book affords a close examination of those politics and the basic assumptions about them. SA

Publisher: Seal
Paperback: 297 pages

“They sold sin and sensation with the magic words ‘Uncut! Uncensored! Adults only,’ and the most happily shameless of them all was David F. Friedman, the emperor of the ‘exploitation’ films. Friedman perfected the fine art of sleaze and delightfully admits that he has hurled more garbage at the public than anyone else before or since. This book is as much his story as it is the history of an idea that in recent times has enjoyed a remarkable rebirth.”

Publisher: Prometheus
Hardback: 355 pages
Illustrated

“Cookie Mueller was a fiction writer, cult movie star, art critic and a fixture on the downtown New York scene until her death from AIDS in 1989. An art columnist for Details, an advice columnist for the East Village Eye, Cookie also wrote fiction which was eminently amusing and refreshing. Included here are the best of her Details columns; the funniest East Village Eye pieces, on everything from homeopathic medicine and health-care to how to cut your cocaine with a healthy substance; and her strongest pieces of fiction, including some from Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black and High Risk. This collection is as much an autobiography as it is a map of downtown New York in the early ‘80s—that moment before Bright Lights, Big City, before the art world exploded, before New York changed into a yuppie metropolis, while it still had a glimmer of bohemian life.”

Publisher: Serpent's Tail
Paperback: 320 pages

“An illustrated exposé of the growth of vice in America.”

Publisher: NYU
Paperback: 385 pages
Illustrated

A perfect guide for the voyeuristic cineaste, The Bare Facts sees that your favorite film stars and personalities get the widest possible exposure. Organized into three broad categories, this guide provides alphabetical listings by actor, actress and film title. Each scene featuring nudity is described in detail, giving the length of the scene and what body parts are available for viewing within the scene. Also, each scene is rated with one to three stars, with three stars being “Wow! Don’t miss it.” For example, under The Night Porter, three scenes are listed, with the favorite scene earning a three-star rating. Lasting over one minute the scene features “breasts doing a song and dance number wearing pants, suspenders and a Nazi hat. Long scene.” JAT

Publisher: Bare Facts
Paperback: 870 pages

Serious and sad tale of an ex-junkie/ho’ coming to terms with her impending death from AIDS. Fairly gut-wrenching. MG

Publisher: Holloway House
Paperback: 144 pages

Seventies pulp which was actually made into a movie. “Meet the black starlet and the men who made her… Her white agent becomes her pimp and she treks in and out of producers’, directors’ and backers’ bedrooms, bending to their perverse hungers. She came to Hollywood with an active hatred of whites but finds that in the glittering unreality of the movie capital, a black will cheerfully do her in and call her sister at the same time.” Ten pages of black-and-white photos. GR

Publisher: Holloway House
Paperback: 215 pages

Father Bruce Ritter founded a shelter for runaways in Manhattan in 1968. By 1989 the shelter had grown into a national entity and Ronald Reagan had declared Father Ritter an unsung Saint in a State of the Union Address. In 1990, Father Ritter resigned his post amid allegations of child molestation and financial misconduct. No legal charges were ever brought, although there was an “in-house” investigation of charges. This “trial by book” is well-written, exhaustively researched and utterly compelling. SA

Publisher: Pinnacle
Paperback: 512 pages

“Phone sex is a unique form of erotica. Like written stories it is pure fantasy, yet… it is the customer’s fantasy, not the writer’s.” A self-described “mild-mannered computer systems analyst by day,” Rhys transforms herself into “an uninhibited fantasy performer by night,” answering phone-sex calls in her home. In these pages, however, her uninhibited side takes a backseat to her analytical prowess, as she divides callers into categories such as ‘Demanding,’ ‘Invasive’ or ‘Pseudo-Intimate,’ among others. Her volunteer work as a telephone crisis-line counselor is apparent throughout as she speculates on the life experiences that may lead to a caller’s particular fantasy. She never mentions if she gets her crisis-line clients confused with her phone-sex callers, only to tell the lovelorn and suicidal to try a hot coffee enema. While Rhys describes phone sex as “the perfect second job,” her book is more New Age touchy-feely than hot and sexy—definitely not the stroke book to bring to a desert island. On the other hand, Call Me Mistress is an excellent primer to the nuts-and-bolts business of phone sex. LP

Publisher: Miwok
Paperback: 123 pages

Egomaniac. Scene stealer. Visionary. Ham. Lover. Bully. Star. Love him or hate him—and it’s split just about equally—Shatner is the Captain of Captains in the Star Trek universe. This book details: “His shocking encounter with extraterrestrial beings [that gives new meaning to his rendition of “Tambourine Man”]… Why the Star Trek movies almost didn’t get made… His sizzling offscreen romances [with his leading-lady guest stars]… His stormy relationship with Leonard Nimoy and other cast members [Sulu hated his guts]… and why he became the most hated actor on the set [Shatner was on a classic star trip]. On the bright side, there’s Shatner’s pre-Trek Broadway success as the star of The World of Suzy Wong. A man who loves spaceships and horses can’t be all bad. GR

Publisher: Pinnacle
Paperback: 298 pages
Illustrated