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Underneath the grime and glamor

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I was very entertained while reading this book, primarily because the very premise of Snuff was the ultimate parody of the dehumanization and commercialization of sex that I've always wanted. I've been waiting for someone of Palahniuk's caliber and sense of humor to write something about sex and I was pleased Palahniuk's focus was on the pornography industry. He takes us into a very intimate look on how porn goddesses are made and coveted, and the men who lose themselves in the fantasies and fetishes provided by the audio-visual art form that is pornography. But this book was appropriately entitled Snuff , because the story centers around Cassie Wright, a retiring porn star who planned to end her career by fornicating with six hundred men on camera. There's an implied death wish to this proclivity indeed, and I just know while reading that Cassie might not make it out alive. The plot was actually loosely based on the real-life story of porn actress Annabel Cho

"Everybody belongs to Everybody"

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I’ve read Aldous Huxley’s marvelous science fiction because it was my father’s favorite book in his high school years. At first reading, the prose immediately had a sharpness to it that I can feel its sting in my chest once every in a while. The richness of the text has provoked a lot of sensitive imagery which I’m unwilling to entertain at first, yet my mind goes there anyway. They’re disturbing visuals but it only shows the masterful prowess of the writer. It’s a cautionary tale about pure, mad science taking over until it starts to eradicate intimacies in human relationships (including and especially family and monogamy). Not surprising for a controversial piece during its time. Something keeps reeling me in as I peruse the pages. I am propelled to move forward by each turn. I find the hedonism of this novel quite uncomfortable; I suppose absolute lack of inhibition has its dangers. The people of this so-called brave new world are living the Eden paradise ideal; they feel no sha

On becomming whole

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I was drawn to this book for the most personal reason: I'm a very sexual creature. That's not to say I sleep around or I display deviant carnal behaviors, or that I'm horny all the time. Erotic experiences to me can be considered another form of intellectual stimulation, something that I always single-handedly seek in my life (which is probably why I enjoyed Lost Girls by Alan Moore so much, particularly his characterization of Alice Fairchild), and I never had any fear or restraint about exploring my sexuality growing up (though physical applications only happened in college but I was already self-taught on the theories as early as ten years old). Now I've read Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides first, which I liked so I was eager to read him again and it was really lucky that Middlesex is a story about a hermaphrodite character in his/her quest to figure out identity and sexuality. I've always been interested in subjects such as that after all, consideri