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The Virgin Project
Few human experiences are as universally shared, and yet as diverse, as the loss of virginity. The Virgin Project is a collection of first-time sexual encounters that illustrate a small sample of the breadth of human experience. Some people consider virginity as a prize to be given away. Some consider it a burden to be disposed of. For some, it was stolen and can never be restored. A few place little value on it at all. As one remarked, "I didn't lose my virginity any more than I 'lost' my pacifier. I outgrew it." The very moment of losing virginity among same sex couples can be a gray area and a topic of debate. Some focus instead on gaining their sexuality, and the opening of a new world of human experience. In one sense, losing one's virginity is an antiquated concept, because society no longer regards sex outside of marriage as shameful. Yet it still marks a passage from adolescence to adulthood for every generation. Most everyone remembers the "first time," some with regret, but many with fondness. According to Dr. Alex Comfort, writing in "More Joy of Sex," "Sex is the only social skill we do not learn by watching," which may account for the great variety in the stories. This first volume of The Virgin Project is the product of a collaboration between two artist-storytellers. They collected stories at various times and locations, including the Seattle Erotic Art Festival and the Victoria Erotic Art and Film Festival. All of the stories in this book are true. The names have been changed to protect privacy, and fictitious names were supplied by the people telling the stories, resulting in a few duplicate names. The variety of stories includes everything from teenage experimentation to wedding night nerves, including the humorous and tragic, gay and straight - all of them different. The introduction is by Ellen Forney, a professional cartoonist/illustrator/author and college instructor. In retelling these stories, artistic license has been used.
142 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 30, 2009
This is great - some stories are hilarious, some touching, some haunting. As the back says, "for mature readers" - but for the themes, not for the pictures (yes, there are breasts - just like in real life). It's a small, perfect view into people's private lives.
June 25, 2023
A compilation book of an experience that is pretty universal. This book starts out STRONG and just keeps going. Real stories.
August 27, 2009
A cute, accessible, and not at all prurient illustrated compendium of first-time stories. The stories are diverse -- the coauthors interviewed people from eighteen to eighty, from all walks of life -- and the illustration style differs from story to story to play up the special features of each one. Very human, but in an encapsulated way; most stories are just a page or two, and I thought many of them would have benefited from a few pages of context or fallout. This would have helped differentiate stories that were often otherwise very similar. My favorite stories were the standouts -- Mrs. X, Logan, Ellen, Vic, and especially Kaye come to mind -- but some of the more generic "teenage fumbling" stories might have been standouts too if we'd known what led to them, or what came after.
My other gripe is more personal, which is that with the exception of a couple women who saved themselves for marriage,everyone is depicted as losing their virginity by age twenty. That's not so bad by itself -- most people do, after all -- but it's compounded by the fact that they inserted one one-page panel about a thirty-five-year-old comic book store employee for the sole purpose of mocking him for being a virgin. I have a problem with that. He has a story too, I bet, and it deserves to be told no less than the stories of people who have been deflowered.
My other gripe is more personal, which is that with the exception of a couple women who saved themselves for marriage,everyone is depicted as losing their virginity by age twenty. That's not so bad by itself -- most people do, after all -- but it's compounded by the fact that they inserted one one-page panel about a thirty-five-year-old comic book store employee for the sole purpose of mocking him for being a virgin. I have a problem with that. He has a story too, I bet, and it deserves to be told no less than the stories of people who have been deflowered.
July 27, 2015
Very episodic and serial. After reading things like Blankets and Fun Home this left me wanting some more in terms of depth and character. Instead you get each loss of virginity as a quick scene. This is not to say they weren't interesting, but they weren't particularly gripping or compelling. After a while it made the "first time" phenomenon seem less special than I thought it would be.
June 17, 2012
I met the artists of _The_Virgin_Project_ at the Fremont Summer Solstice Fair and was immediately taken with their illustrations and interpretations of people's most intimate stories. From the tragic, hilarious, mundane and even super intense first-time experiences, they bring people's stories to life and make you walk a few panels in their shoes. It's better than _Post Secret_.
September 21, 2008
My brother has started college, and this was a book (its actually a series of cartoons based on true stories) that was recquired for him to read. Im an advocate of eye opening novels, but this was way too eye-opening and rather crude.
April 3, 2009
Poignantly-rendered, real-life illustrated coming-of-age stories: gay, straight, bi, awkward, drunken, fumbling, and disturbly often with cousins, teachers, or otherwise less-than-appropriate partners
October 24, 2009
I loved this book. It was silly, funny, poignant, and painful. I had teary-eyed moments, and I had mouth-agape moments.
August 7, 2010
One little moment and an incredibly diverse array of experiences.
April 27, 2013
There are happy stories about the first time, sad ones, horrifying ones, and bitter sweet ones. This book is about real people and their stories. It's really just a bitter sweet book.
December 20, 2013
actually a rather boring book. i was hoping the stories would be more interesting and the art isn't too interesting.
April 16, 2015
Cool idea, but it got boring fast -- probably because I'm not into the art style.
October 11, 2009
A terrific collection of cartoons that tell people's true first experiences with sex.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews