Show Adult

by Peter Sotos

Two film-scripts, the first about editing and content, the second concerned with acting, direction, and instructions/vanity. This fascinating work uses pornography as a Skinner box experiment and co-opts the behaviourist methodology of psychologist Harry Harlow in a violent new work which goes beyond pornography to investigate the very experience of pornography itself. Within this construct Sotos covers such cases as child porn star Masha Allen, murder victim Carlie Brucie and her prostitute mother Susan Schorpen, and the infant-raping babysitters Alan Webster and Tanya French. He also dissects TV shows Supernanny and To Catch A Predator as publicly acceptable forms of pornography.

Genres: True Crime

Paperback

First published August 1, 2007

About the author

Peter Sotos (born April 17, 1960) is a Chicago-born writer who has contributed an unprecedented examination of the peculiar motivations of sadistic sexual criminals. His works are often cited as conveying an uncanny understanding of myriad aspects of pornography. Most of his writings have focused on sexually violent pornography, particularly of that involving children. His writings are also considered by many to be social criticism often commenting on the hypocritical way media handles these issues.

In 1984, while attending The Art Institute of Chicago, Sotos began producing a self-published newsletter or "fanzine" named Pure, notable as the first zine dedicated to serial killer lore. Much of the text and pictures in Pure were photocopied images from major newspapers and other print media. Sotos also used a photocopy from a magazine of child pornography as the cover of issue#2 of Pure. In 1986 this cover led to his arrest and charges of obscenity and possession of child pornography. The charges of obscenity were dropped, but Sotos eventually pled guilty to the possession charge and received a suspended sentence. Sotos was the first person in the United States ever to be charged for owning child pornography.

Sotos' writings explore sadistic and pedophilic sexual impulses in their many, often hidden, guises. Often using first person narratives, his prose takes on the point of view of the sexual predator. Despite his early legal troubles, and the seemingly fatal stigma of falsely being labeled a pedophile, Sotos continues to garner support for his ideas and literary output.

He was until 2003 a seminal member of the industrial noise band Whitehouse.

Reviews

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very hard to grasp until you fully immerse yourself in it, and not everyone would want to stick their heads into Sotos' very real world. So horrifying it's genuinely intoxicating. Difficult and very demanding to read, feels somewhat samey after god knows how many equally graphic (and un-numbered) pages, but undoubtedly, there's the occassional flashes of brilliance in this book. But I still had to put it down long before it was over. I respect Sotos, but I wouldn't recommend this to 90% of people I know, and 100% of the people I don't know.

I read the swedish translation.

[Tammy]

difficult stuff, but a unique writer to be sure. not sure if actually a pedo(?)