Review: Not What It Seems
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 02 19, 2012
This was one of the strangest books that I have ever read, and the Kindle cover of the copy that I received (a young boy looking at a picture book) has absolutely no connection to the story. Although the title name suggests that the story might be erotic, the content is much more of a discussion of attaining sexual pleasure and gratification. Reading it feels very similar to sitting in a classroom and participating in a clinical discussion - one that doesn't always make a great deal of sense. It's a short novel that takes about an hour to read.We eventually learn that the narrator of the story is the sister of a woman who is attending a program developed by someone she refers to as Dr. Morgasm (she says this is not her real name), presumably to help her improve her troubled relationship with her spouse. The role she takes upon herself is to protect her sister and prevent her from becoming involved in what she suspects is a cult. We learn that Morgasm is a support group "dedicated to super-sizing your sex menu" and "increasing control over [your] own pleasure." It discusses the notion of "pleasure-deficits" and the need to manipulate one's partner to achieve greater satisfaction. Successful adherents to the program can expect to have increased sexual satisfaction, effortlessly lose weight, and achieve counter-addictive behaviors (whatever those are), amongst other benefits.The instructor of the program, Louisa, leaves us with insightful gems, such as "beneath the superficial physical aspect of male desire is a deeper yearning to return to the emotional security of the mother-child relationship. If we truly comprehend that men are just boys in bigger bodies, we'll be in the right mental place to pursue our pleasure objectives." The narrator goes on to tell us more of Louisa's pitch: "Allowing men to take a leadership role in our own pleasure activities is a big mistake. They've done nothing to make themselves qualified for such a position. They haven't taken any courses. They have no certifications. They just barge in and take charge because they think they're entitled to." The narrator then laments that "everyone was lapping this stuff up and there was nothing I could've said or done at that point to slow her down any." Later, the instructor tells the class that "the one common concern shared by most everyone there was a fear of losing the ability to withhold sex as a tactic for shaping male behavior." She assures them that this is not the case - in fact, successful practitioners of Morgasm will find that they will have even greater power over their mate, effectively turning their mates into "pleasure slaves."We never really do learn what Morgasm really is, or even what the author's point was in writing the story. I'm assuming that this is intended to be a satirical book about self-help programs, though I never did figure it out for sure. The narrator asserts her hostility towards the program throughout the book, which has the effect of detracting from the concepts that the instructor was attempting to convey. Rather than drawing the reader into the story, the narrator is very distracting, with her consistent negative judgments. Also distracting were the overly-used clichés and grammatical errors - the author would do well to find an editor to insert many missing commas, as well as rewording multiple sentences that end in prepositions.I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for my review.