Massage and the Writer: Essays on Asian Massage

Isham Cook is an amazing writer. Anytime you take erotic experiences and turn them into learning tools of truth, you a writer to your last breath. I must admit, "Massage and the Writer" had me at times wanting to close the book because I was burned out with the sexual massage experiences but I had to come back to see what else Cook remembered about his many experiences of entering the world of massage seduction. I can tell you, he remembered a lot.I always respect raw truth no matter what it consists of because it takes a person with soul to profess raw truths and Isham Cook did that on each page you turn. For sure we all need to be touched regularly because touch calms the beast in us all. I believe this author knows our world hungers for it and probably if each of us would surrender to this reality and find a way to make it happen as many of us do in massaging be it erotic or therapeutic, this would be a better world. This is a very unique work of art that gets to the core if you don't run.

Weird, erotic, yet not especially titillating, the author wanders about Asia in search of erotic massage like a modern day Tom Jones adventurer or a male Candy. He does pause to consider how like 1984 the North Korean and Burmese cultures are and also proposes that ALL sex including marital be paid for at the going rates. I found myself irritated by his massage class accusers whom I thought to be too uptight and/or repressed for words. I also found myself bemused by his randiness. He describes himself as polyamorous and completely unabashed. We should all be so confident.

The book is actually a collection of non-fictional essays describing the author's personal experiences in Asia and describing massage encounters in different Asian countries. I have found the book interesting, especially from an anthropological and sociological point of view.It's a reflection of the Asian culture an invitation to understand and accept it. Just a piece of advice - the book is for the open minded, for those of you who are ready to embrace a culture different from ours and to accept different point of views.If you are prejudiced, please skip this book.

Isham Cook puts a bold perspective on his subject matter, there are sections where this book was so funny I actually burst out laughing, and the strange thing was I was not so sure I should even have been laughing, or that the Author was even intending the joke. There are times I was reminded of the writings of Tom Sharpe, situations seeming to be most absurd, but contextually a blend of the erotic, the pseudo-erotic, adventurous, and at times downright dangerous to the point of almost catastrophic positioning. A rip roaring, cringe worthy, thigh slapping, adventure into the darker side of lifes challenges.

On the surface you could say that Cook has a one-track mind, scouring Asia for the perfect massage, and the ultimate happy ending. To say that though would be to ignore the undercurrent of his work. Much as every point in a pontolist painting is just a coloured dot, so too the individual massage is nothing to shout about, but taking the pure density of research Cook has undertaken, an underlying image of sensuality. Cook is brave in that any age, race, or age of masseuse is open to his scrutiny. This is not a book for the squeamish, but for those with a curious mind, who wish to know what goes on behind those curtains and red lights, this is the perfect introduction.