Love Not Given Lightly: Profiles from the Edge of Sex

by Tina Horn

Love Not Given Lightly is the first collection of nonfiction stories from award-winning filmmaker, journalist, and advocate Tina Horn. In her vast experience in sexual undergrounds, Tina has befriended pro-dommes, porn stars, kinky fetishists, rent boys, and more. Instead of writing a sex worker memoir, she opted to tell the stories of the people she met along the way. Illuminating human issues of desire, gender, beauty, and ultimately friendship, the stories in this book will do no less than alter the way you think about modern sexuality in America. Tina Horn is a writer, educator, and interdisciplinary media-maker. She co-created, produced, and directed QueerPorn.Tv, which has won two Feminist Porn Awards and was nominated for an AVN. Her writing has appeared in several Cleis Press anthologies, including Best Sex Writing 2015 . She has blogged for Vice , Nerve , and Fleshbot and published articles in the Believer , AORTA , Up and Coming , and Whore! magazines. She holds an MFA in creative nonfiction rriting from Sarah Lawrence College. Originally from Northern California, Tina now lives in Manhattan.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sexuality, Queer, Sex Work, Gender and Sexuality, Essays

148 pages, Paperback

First published April 20, 2015

About the author

Tina Horn is a writer, teacher, and media-maker. She produces and hosts the sexuality podcast Why Are People Into That?!. Her first book, Love Not Given Lightly, is a collection of nonfiction stories about sex workers; she has also been published in Vice, Nerve, Girl Sex 101, and Best Sex Writing 2015. Tina’s workshops on dirty talk, sex worker self care, and spanking have been featured at Good Vibrations, Armory Studios, Lesbian Sex Mafia, International Ms Leather, the New School, and the Feminist Porn Conference. She is a LAMBDA Literary Fellow, has won two Feminist Porn Awards, and holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing from Sarah Lawrence. Born in Northern California, Tina now lives in Manhattan.

Reviews

[Sinclair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brilliant! Loved the profiles and depths of characters in various sex work positions, loved Tina's insightful and multi-dimensional prose. Highly recommended.

[Liza · Rating 5 out of 5]

such compelling stories from a generous and funny perspective! for me there were some hiccups in the beginning as it seemed not quite clear who the intended audience was -- would anyone really be reading this book who needed sidebar definitions of terms like bdsm and transgender? -- but it really picked up steam, and especially the final sections got into complicated, moving, honestly beautiful territory that left me feeling gobsmacked when it was over. i want a sequel or, better, a whole series!

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This would be a great zine or zine series. It seems really slap dash and like she just wrote about her friends. It's not well written. Many many cliches and very self conscious. Blech. The only part I would want to know more about is her work at the bdsm house. There are only like 5 segments in the volume--two about friends that just read like uninspired profile pieces and another about a client of hers who is a spanking enthusiast. Who cares?

[Selina · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Zuzka Jakúbková · Rating 3 out of 5]

Diverse stories of different kinds of sex workers in US, bound by the narrator, dominatrix Tina Horn.

[Emily Warfield]

I can't rate books by people I know!

[Joe McGuire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Newest member of my 'favourites' shelf.

Easily devoured the book. Very well written and crafted. Very grateful for the folks who are in this who shared their stories and perspectives.

With each new story I come across around Sex Work the more invested I get in fighting against Anti-Sex Work stigma; Sex Work is Work and deserves every bit of respect as anything else out there.

Regardless of where you are on the issue, do yourself a favor and read this book.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this! I only wish it had been longer -- just 143 pages. Profiles of James Darling, Bianca Stone, and a client with a spanking fetish, plus love notes to the Gates (female-run dungeon in SF) and friend/support/SWer colleague Quinn Cassidy.