Satisfaction - the Art of the Female Orgasm

Satisfaction - the Art of the Female Orgasm, by Kim Cattrall and Mark
Levinson (Thorsons)

When Sex and the City's Kim Cattrall and husband Mark co-wrote a book about how women can achieve sexual satisfaction, sexperts were skeptical. iVillage's couples counsellor Susan Quilliam gives her opinion

I have to admit I felt a bit cynical when I was asked to review Satisfaction. Oh no - not another sex manual. But first impressions were good. It's hardback, with a classy cover, charcoal pencil drawings and not too much text on each page. Medieval Japanese lovers used to keep a 'pillow book' of possible sexual variations near to hand during lovemaking - and this pillow book would certainly look good on any bedside table.

So then, what's inside? I liked the introduction. Right up front Kim Cattrall talks about her own difficulties in reaching orgasm until she met her husband Mark - then she goes on to make the point that 'no one wants to admit that millions of women have unsatisfactory sex lives and that most men do not know what to do about that.' Speaking as a couples counsellor, I have to agree with her. There's a huge gender gap in understanding of what turns a woman on - and many men haven't bridged that gap yet.

Reading on, I liked the book more and more. Kim and Mark make the point that it's the clitoris - not intercourse - that holds the secret of success for most women, and that until a man learns how to stimulate a woman's clit, he is not going to be able to satisfy. The book then offers very specific descriptions of how a man can give oral sex - with suggestions that he practise using his own fingertips.