|
The New Topping Book
Book by
Greenery Press
Click to enlarge
|
|
Rating
Average rating based on votes by reviewers and customers.
Click on star to rate
Overview
Product summary and comments
by
Summary:
The New Topping Book is the ultimate guide for the aspiring, or already accomplished, top. Great for Dom/mes, Daddies, sadists, switches, and all curious people. Well-written, informative, and friendly, this book was written by a pair of ethical play partners who want you to play well, play fair, and play as hard as you want. It won't make you into a great top, but it gives you all the tools to set out on that journey yourself, or to refresh your ideas about the scene.
Best use:
Catalog ID: ENT375
UPC:
-
About author
- Author:
-
Dossie Easton / Janet W. Hardey
- –The Wolf's opinion
- Dossie Easton and Janet Hardy are a feisty duo of killer sex writing. They have written a bunch of other books, such as The Ethical Slut, When Someone You Love is Kinky, The Bottoming Book, The New Bottoming Book, and hey, they even wrote this book before, sans the "New" part. Lucky me, I get to read the second draft!
Easton and Hardy always write as a team, using the first person plural (us/our/we) to refer to themselves, and together have a very enthusiastic and nurturing tone. I'm never sure who is writing what, but it doesn't matter, because it seems that you have a whole team on your side. They are clearly in agreement, and are able to do great work together.
In fact, these two ladies have been lovers and play partners for at least a decade. In the book, they share much of their personal experiences playing together. They are knowledgeable not only about topping, the raison d'etre of the book, but about bottoming, and come at the topic from both perspectives.
Overall, I'd say these ladies are more than qualified to be dishing out advice on topping, having been part of the BDSM community for years, played their hearts out, and conducted their lives thoughtfully and compassionately. Their style is peppy and personable, and the language is completely transparent and comprehensive.
-
Content / Style / Audience
- Publisher:
-
Greenery Press
- Publication date:
-
2003 year
- ISBN:
-
1890159360
- –The Wolf's opinion
- This book sets out to be the ultimate go-to book for the aspiring top. And I daresay it succeeds. Now, "top" may mean Dom/me, Mistress, Master, sadist, Daddy, Mommy, or even switch. The book is incredibly inclusive, not only towards the top rainbow but to the orientation rainbow as well. And, they are pretty good at using pronouns judiciously--as in, the top isn't always "he" and the bottom isn't always "she," or the other way around. It does not directly affect trans issues or use gender neutral pronouns, which would have been lovely, but is not ultra-relevant to this book. Thus, the audience is anyone under the sun wishing to know more about topping, whether it be for empathy or self-education.
I am not sure how informative this would be if you were a long time top. I think that it would be thought-provoking, but not particularly educational. There are a bunch of BDSM 101 type sections, like the one on toys and networking. However, the authors' devotion to good ethics could make this book a good refresher for those who want a reality check because they want to stay kind and thoughtful.
The content of this book is as follows:
-Intro to BDSM and topping
-Ethics
-Inspiration
-Troubleshooting
-Info about toys and activities
-Cruising and Relationships
-Darkside/Deep/Shadow play
-Spirituality
-Resources
All of these sections are extremely thorough, useful and informative.
One of my favorite aspects of the book were the "interludes." There are four in all, which are narratives of scenes featuring the top skills that they teach. What I really liked about this is that they are inspirational. It's great to have all this information, but it is relatively abstract. The interludes bring it down to earth, and give you an idea of what you'll be doing when you're actually playing. Further, they cover a bunch of different play styles and gender couplings.
-
Design
- Format:
-
Paperback
- Number of Pages:
-
210
- Length:
-
9"
- Width:
-
6"
- –The Wolf's opinion
- This book is a thin green paperback, with the words "topping" and "book" crossing eachother on the cover, with a butch-looking woman with a riding crop over her shoulder. There's no nudity, but it's not exactly discreet, although I guess a naive vanilla person might think topping means sprinkles. But they they'd pick it up and go ooooohhh....
So basically don't keep this out for the kids/parents/in-laws/vanilla friends/bosses to find.
A side note: Thank you sooo much to whomever designed this cover. Thank you for refraining from plastering a thin white woman's T&A all over it. Cause while I know we all like to see that, it's just too ubiquitous, stereotypical and all kinds of -ists. This cover, with the butch person, who actually looks like a top, is just so refreshing.
-
Personal comments
- –The Wolf's opinion
- No book can teach you everything you need to know about BDSM. It's a very personal thing, and the best thing you can do is practice, practice, practice. What's more, no book can turn you into a good top. You need to find it within yourself, be brave, make mistakes, and learn. I think this book is a great resource for anyone interested, and even though I think it is the holy grail of topping books and couldn't be much better, it isn't magic. It's not all you need. You need an open mind, personal responsibility, kindness, ethics, and practice. So get out there, guys.
-
Other
Reviews(51)
-
Advanced reviewer, rank
5.7/10
Overall, I found myself repeatedly loving two things about this book: its emphasis on the connection between top and bottom, that fucking hot dynamic that makes power exchange so worthwhile, and its examples of scenes with detailed descriptions of bottoms' reactions and what they could mean. The best tops are empathetic tops, because they are tuned in to what their bottoms feel and want and need, and this book tries to show tops how to cultivate empathy in a perfectly sexy, toppy way.
-
Advanced reviewer, rank
5.6/10
The New Topping Book is a wonderful guidebook that you can take and apply to your own relationship if you're curious about the world of BDSM. It's easy to read and contains basic yet useful information for beginners and curious minds.
-
Advanced reviewer, rank
6.2/10
The New Topping Book is a comprehensive book that provides good information on how to be a top, improve at being a top, and help you understand your bottom. It's easy to read and has some great real life stories that provide great examples while also giving you some erotic entertainment.
-
Writer, rank
6.2/10
The New Topping Book is a great book for those who are interesting in strictly doing scenes, or going to lifestyle events. But if you are looking for information on how to live a 24/7 lifestyle, or are an intermediate or above when it comes to BDSM, you might want to pass.
-
Writer, rank
6.3/10
The New Topping Book is a great guidebook for doms and tops to better understand themselves and become better at their craft. In accessible language, Easton and Hardy trump any top's guilt over their fantasies with explanations about why tops kick ass in all the best ways.
-
Writer, rank
6.1/10
If you are interested in the BDSM lifestyle or considering attending a play party, this book can be of a huge benefit, as it discusses what a top needs to do to become a great top. But if you are not into sceneing, and looking for information about a D/s dynamic, then you'll be disappointed. For what it discusses, it's a fantastic, easy to read guide. Even though it wasn't what I was looking for, I'm not upset it's on my bookshelf.
-
Advanced reviewer, rank
8/10
"The Topping Book" makes it easy to understand what is expected of a top in a scene and how to fulfill your duties easily. It does not teach technique, but it teaches how to run a scene with professionalism and ease.
-
Advanced reviewer, rank
5.8/10
The New Topping Book is a book about BDSM that is written from the framework of creating a safe emotional and physical play space for sex that may cross traditional physical, sexual and emotional boundaries. It includes many personal examples and educational information. It is not a technique manual for learning how to use BDSM equipment.
-
Writer, rank
8.7/10
This book actively works to be as open minded and non-stereotyping as possible. It's a fantastic introduction to how to create a safe environment for people to explore their fantasies regarding BDSM. It is the most thorough and easiest to read and understand book. This isn't in anyway a technical book. It's not going to teach you rope bondage or the ins and outs of all the different types of spanking implements.
-
Writer, rank
7/10
The New Topping Book is a good way for a new top to learn the ropes and a vet to freshen up on things and even learn new things. I would suggest The New Topping Book to anyone that has ever or will top.
-
Writer, rank
5.8/10
There is a reason this book is in its second edition. There is something of real value here that is worth looking into. You don't have to be a top to get a lot of inspiration and joy out of reading this book.
-
Advanced reviewer, rank
5.1/10
This book is great for someone who is just getting introduced to a D/S relationship, and wants to know the basics of how a relationship works and the needs of the bottom.
Forum(2)
|
|
