The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Kama Sutra

by Johanna Wikoff, Deborah S. Romaine

For adults interested in spirituality, sexuality.

Genres: Romance

352 pages, Paperback

First published May 9, 2000

Reviews

[Ginny Hanson]

Red hot monogamy mmmm!

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes it was a gag-gift, and yes it's exactly what it says it is. Anything else would be too incriminating to delve into here. That's what I have a MySpace blog for, right?

[Riley M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a modern western book about sex that is primarily a western neo-tantra sex guide. It has almost nothing to do with the actual Kama Sutra, which was not a tantric text. It’s giving a very modern, westernised approach to sex and uses a lot of terms from neo-tantra that have nothing to do with the KS. Example: yin and yang (a Chinese concept, not one found in India at the time). Most of the content in this book is not found in the KS, and it leaves out or misinterprets a lot of what is in the original.

As far as a general book on neo-tantric sex goes, it’s not bad. But I’m not sure why they claim it’s a guide to the Kama Sutra. The actual KS isn’t a difficult read and is interesting for insights into how some people in ancient India viewed certain aspects of sex and relationships. The Kama Sutra was a guide for finding pleasure, sex and love. It included things like how to find signs that a married woman might be willing to cheat, how to choose a wife, or what hobbies a high end prostitute should have to make herself more interesting to clients. Not the sort of thing you normally find in sex guides these days, but is a kick to read about.

If you just want a general sex guide with a sprinkle of new age spirituality incorporated, you may really like this book. If you are actually curious about the Kama Sutra, read the real thing.