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The Deviant's Pocket Guide to the Outlandish Sexual Desires Barely Contained in Your Subconscious

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In tribute to the many splendors of human sexuality, The Deviant's Pocket Guide to the Outlandish Sexual Desires Barely Contained in Your Subconscious profiles over 40 of the wildest and woolliest sexual proclivities you'll ever find, even on the internet.

The human race is a species of inventors. In our few millennia of existence, we've created fire, the wheel, the printing press, vaccines, and the internet. But never is our creativity more evident than when it comes time to reproduce.

For nature lovers, there's Dendrophilia (you know, tree hugging ). For car people, there's the Automotive Fetish. And for those people who love stuffed animals…you'll just have to look inside.

Each entry in this humorous, one-of-a-kind encyclopedia explores the psychological underpinnings , important logistics , and typical fantasies associated with the deviance in question. For the aspiring deviant, there's even a list of useful accoutrements. Hysterical and astonishingly thorough, The Deviant's Pocket Guide is the only reference book you'll ever need.

208 pages, Paperback

First published December 26, 2007

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About the author

Dennis DiClaudio

8 books59 followers
Dennis DiClaudio lives in Philadelphia, PA with one wife, one son, and two dogs. He is a former editor for Comedy Central's Indecision website and has contributed to The Onion and The AV Club. His plays have been staged in New York City, Philly, Atlanta, and Oxford, MS.

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5 stars
48 (29%)
4 stars
57 (34%)
3 stars
42 (25%)
2 stars
14 (8%)
1 star
4 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
Profile Image for NAT.orious reads ☾.
983 reviews417 followers
September 23, 2019
3.25 outlandish ★★★✩✩
This book is for you if… you are searching for something mildly amusing and informative. It does get a bit bland after a while. You might although in fact discover a weird fetish you feel inclined towards.

⤐Overall.
I was very undecided to whether or not wish for this book on NetGalley. After checking out some reviews on her I thought I might try it and I suppose it was decent enough. This book covers an interesting range of the weirdest fetishes out there. Everey fetish is devided into the sections "useful equipment", "scenario", "What is it","psychological background", "things to consider" and "on a note".

The writing style is down to earth and light, radiating humour and maybe a tad of mocker(?). I was wondering whether some people who feel inclined towards a fetish covered by this book were happy with the way they and their preferences are illustrated.

↠The book is structured as follows.
Introduction

PRETTY PAIN
BODIES, PARTS & FUNCTIONS
INANIMATE OBJECTS
FANTASYLAND
FLORA & FAUNA
COSTUMES & PLAY


Appendix
___________
Writing quality + easy of reading = 4*

pace = 3*

enjoyability = 3*

insightfulness = 3*
_____________________
This eArc was provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you very much!
Profile Image for Morris.
964 reviews175 followers
October 31, 2019
This was definitely an eye-opener! I quite enjoyed the format and learning the trivia contained in this. It would make a great gift for someone who has everything and enjoys all sorts of strange information, though probably not good for your mother-in-law! I'm going to check out the other books by this author.

This unbiased review is based upon a complimentary copy provided by the publisher.
Profile Image for Dennis DiClaudio.
Author 8 books59 followers
September 10, 2019
This is by far the greatest book that I have ever read. I would venture to say it is the greatest book ever written, but I have not yet read several books, and I consider the possibility -- however unlikely -- that one or two of those books could possibly exceed this one in grandeur, transcendence and/or references to people doing it up right with insects.
Profile Image for Laura.
31 reviews23 followers
June 29, 2008
How could I see this delightful little pocket guide sitting on the shelves and not want to make it my own? I think this is a good addition to any reference library, right up there with Webster's and Roget's - certainly useful for identifying your (or your houseguests') naughtier proclivities and helpful in understanding the best props for your desired kind of play. I appreciate author DiClaudio's addition of any safety concerns you should account for (e.g. remember to give your partner a breathing tube before wrapping him/her/it up like a mummy), which can sometimes save you some embarrassment later.

Dennis DiClaudio is also the author of other moderately-proportioned handbooks, including The Hypochondriac's Pocket Guide to Horrible Diseases You Probably Already Have and The Paranoid's Pocket Guide to Mental Disorders You Can Just Feel Coming On. No home library is complete without them, in my humble opinion - so stock up on these and The Deviant's Pocket Guide, and never be at a loss again as to whether the gentleman sucking your toes is a podophiliac (my my yes) or a retifist (of course not...that's gross).
Profile Image for Beth Tabler.
Author 15 books201 followers
July 28, 2020
Thank you to netgalley for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for my open and honest review.

I was curious enough about this enough to buy a paper copy of it on amazon so I could better understand what the writer was trying to do here. This is a confusing book. It is neither a reference guide for people who are attempting to understand things about the kink world nor is it very funny. It skirts the line, not riding either side. It is almost as if the author went through and picked out some of the most mundane and most outrageous kinks, (dendrophilia anyone?) to talk about without really saying anything about them that could provide useful info while making some wild psychological claims about the reasoning behind people having specific kinks. Once again not really coming down on the side of factual or of a parody. It was just confusing.

The book itself is cute and put together well, a perfect little purple guide, but I can't recommend it.
Profile Image for Kelly.
801 reviews38 followers
September 28, 2019
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
This little book is quite entertaining and yet informative. The wiring of the human mind is forever fascinating.
Profile Image for Jimmy.
Author 6 books288 followers
May 26, 2019
I would have preferred a more scientific book. The humor flopped for me. Anyway, here are a few examples.

James Joyce was believed to have been an Eproctophiliac, a lover of farts. He wrote to his wife Laura, "You had an arse full of farts that night, darling . . . big fat fellows, long windy ones, quick little merry cracks and a lot of tiny little naughty farties ending in a long gush from your hole . . . I think I would know Laura's fart anywhere. I think I could pick here out in a room full of farting women . . . I hope Laura will let off no end of her farts in my face so that I may know their smell also." Well, there you go. I may never read Joyce in the same way ever again. I hope to read Finnegan's Wake soon, and I will be vigilant for any sign of farting.

Klismaphilia is the pleasure of purging the bowels. King Louis XIV of France was a world-class enema fanatic. In his 77 years, he reportedly enjoyed more than 2,000 enemas. He ruled for 72 years.

Necrophilia or Thanatophilia is the love of making love to the dead. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote of the practice occurring way back in ancient Egypt. Necrophiliacs may suffer from low self-esteem. A dead body can't say NO.

Podophilia is a foot fetish, as in Quentin Tarantino movies. The word "foot" or "feet" occurs in the King James Bible well over 400 times.

Urophilia is the love of watching someone urinate or having them urinate on you. Our current President may be a fan of that. Allegedly.

Hierophilia or Theophilia is the art of making love to religious objects.

Plushophiliacs make love to stuffed animals. According to the internet chatter, the most popular toy is the Meeko doll based on a raccoon character from Disney's Pocahontas. Although I am sure they now have a new favorite.

Retifists are attracted to shoes, not the foot. Imelda Marcos maybe? So many movie stars? If they prefer high heels, they are called Altocalciphiliacs. The heels can also be used to inflict pain, usually on men.
Profile Image for Jamie Bee.
Author 1 book124 followers
October 18, 2019
I've recently read and reviewed the other two pocket guides by this author, one about unusual medical maladies and the other about mental disorders. I thought having read those two might have prepared me for this book, but I was so wrong! As the title says, this book explores some unusual sexual desires. While these particular likes may be real, the emphasis in this book compared to the other two is definitely on the "humorous" aspect. Each desire lists some items that you might want to use to actualize it, a fantasy scenario, and psychological origins (part of which is usually not serious). There are a few “real” bits of actual information scattered around, but not as much as in the other books. Some of these desires are quite shocking in what the fetish or like actually is, and the author spares nothing in adding more of a creepiness factor. There are definitely some "ick" moments here. This book is not for the faint of heart. I have to say that I didn't enjoy this book, unlike the other pocket guides by this author. I usually try to end my book review on a suggestion about who the book might be for, but I find myself at a loss to define that precisely for this one. I guess the best I can say is that if you have an interest in the topic and don't mind a quirky, "humorous," voyeuristic take on it, you might enjoy this book.

I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.

Read my book blog at https://www.readingfanaticreviews.com
9,399 reviews133 followers
October 22, 2019
Pick anything from this barely-safe-for-work book and someone would have issues with it. It snappily, unconvincingly (wow, the author has a BA!!) but enjoyably guides us through all the sexual peccadilloes, fetishes and f**ked-up desires people may want in their sex lives, ranging from a desire to be with amputees, for balloons, or to vomit. I soon skipped reading the introductory scene-setting yucks, before getting to the really yucky stuff of the serious parts from every entry, which include why someone may find this appealing, what concerns it should trigger, and so on. Warmly non-judgemental, and eminently readable (and quotable down the pub, if you have a certain kind of group of friends there), I think the biggest issue I have is that it comes from a publishing house I had always turned to for their children's books. This is NOT one of those. Strangely written as if the only possible reader is male, it loses a mark as a result but is still a success.
Profile Image for J. d'Merricksson.
Author 12 books50 followers
January 4, 2020
The Deviant's Pocket Guide to the Outlandish Sexual Desires Barely Contained in Your Subconscious by Dennis DiClaudio looks at forty of the most unusual sexual proclivities humanity has to offer. Each entry has a list of useful accoutrements, an example fantasy, an amusing look at what it is, the common psychological background behind the manifestation, and important considerations to think about before engaging in said proclivity. Thanks to knowing people into BDSM, some of these were familiar in passing, but most were entirely new and left me shaking my head. Some were entirely too hard for me to fathom. Highly recommended, both for humour value, and trivia value!

***Many thanks to the Netgalley & Quarto Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Profile Image for Katy | KD's Bookish Ways.
196 reviews14 followers
October 1, 2019
I requested this book because I was truly interested in learning about different sexual desires and I was not disappointed one bit! This book was very informative but also had truly hysterical moments. I was highly impressed by the writing in how it was professionally written. They didn't make fun of the desire but explained how it came to be and why we feel this way.


*ARC courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I want to express a thank you to the valued author, the publisher who took a chance on the author, and Netgalley for providing a copy.*
Profile Image for Nerdy Housewifey.
446 reviews2 followers
September 12, 2019
Okay so I thought I was well versed on random fetishes but boy did I learn about a lot more. This was enthralling! I’m utterly fascinated by what I just read. Some of the things that turn different humans cranks, like I said fascinating. I’m a very big upholder of not kink shaming others, whatever floats your boat, and I feel even though the writing was again humorous, it never belittled or made fun of anything.

Once this is released I’m definitely going to be sharing it in some of my romance groups, I know the girls will all get a kick out of it.
1,019 reviews13 followers
September 16, 2019
Thank you to the Quarto Publishing Group and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought I was fairly well-informed in terms of sexual kink... but man is there a lot of weirdness alive in this world of ours. In the style of his other books, this is a highly entertaining - while also being very informative - look at various forms of sexual fetishes. Lots of dry humor, with no judgement being passed, which is remarkable in itself, under the circumstances.
Profile Image for Shelby.
23 reviews5 followers
December 23, 2019
Interesting and quirky read, but I was a tad disappointed that quite a few of the fetishes are commonly known, therefore I didn't learn as much from this book as I have from DiClaudio's other pocket guides. Though, the language of the book makes it obvious DiClaudio is going for more humor than knowledge. To each their own. If you do have an obscure fetish, maybe don't read this guide. The nature of it is quite judgmental.
Profile Image for Neriah.
173 reviews5 followers
October 2, 2019
"If there's one thing you should carry away from this book, it's that one should never underestimate the human sexual appetite."

That's it! That's the book! Fully blown, entertaining, genius and I was NOT ready for this book!

Recommended: Anyone can read this third book in the series. Just make sure you are ready for this.
Profile Image for The Kawaii Slartibartfast.
1,011 reviews23 followers
September 11, 2019
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book is very silly but I'd expect nothing less from the title. It's very informative and presents the information in a really easy to understand way.
Profile Image for Vnunez-Ms_luv2read.
907 reviews29 followers
September 22, 2019
This was an interesting read. Lol some of the desires were wild. The book was entertaining and a quick read. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the arc of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on this review.
5 reviews
June 4, 2020
As a knowledgeable kinkster, I found this book very interesting and informative. A few things I would have liked to see were omitted such as a paraphilia like hoplophilia. Overall, a very good read and recommended.
Profile Image for Stacy Kingsley.
Author 9 books14 followers
January 17, 2024
Interesting book, but the copy I have is so hard to read because of the margins. I could barely read anything that was inside of the book near the inner margin, which made this not a fun book to read and made me want to quit.
Profile Image for Francis Miguel.
14 reviews
May 23, 2024
Hindi ko bet ang kabastusan lalo na yung typical na kabastusan ukol sa kung paano mapa-oo ang babae at lahat ng kalokohan. Pero alam ni Dennis DiClaudio ang mga desires na dapat mapasok sa utang ng tao upang hindi maging "narrow-minded". Dagdag pa ang katatawanan. Page turner talaga
Profile Image for Autumn Araujo.
57 reviews
March 15, 2022
Ummm. Lots of strange people in this world. I wasn’t fond of the jokes. Interesting though.
Profile Image for Corey.
447 reviews3 followers
May 19, 2024
Honestly better than the other two but also not great. The humor wasn't particularly funny and most of the fetishes depicted were relatively tame and not nearly as outlandish as the title suggests
Profile Image for Lorna McCluskey.
71 reviews16 followers
December 6, 2019
A mind-opening book that enlightens one to different sexual desires that I had never imagined.
The book is easy to read, understand and gently humorous.
A handy little reference book that is sure to get people wondering.
Acquired through Goodreads Giveaways.
Profile Image for Serena.. Sery-ously?.
1,171 reviews226 followers
October 18, 2014
Dopo aver letto e amato le altre due guide tascabili di Dennis DeClaudio, non potevo certo esimermi dal comprare e leggere anche questo.. Che fatica trovarlo (ad un prezzo onesto!).. Ma che soddisfazione vederli tutti e tre insieme! Sono bellissimi!! :D
Il libro presenta diverse sezioni, proprio come i suoi fratelli maggiori e l'autore è sempre molto piacevole da leggere.. Sarà che alcune cose sono un po' schifosette, sarà che alcune le conoscevo.. Mi è piaciuto, ma non posso metterlo a livello di "Io sono ipocondriaco" :DD
Sempre comunque un ottimo compagno.. E tra qualche "Eeew, che schifo" e "Ma seriamente?".. Vi strapperà qualche risata! :D
Profile Image for Meaghan.
1,096 reviews25 followers
August 12, 2010
Even more informative and funny than the other DiClaudio book I'd read. Most of these fetishes I had never even heard of and would certainly not wish to practice myself, but whatever floats your boat, I guess. Sex trivia buffs will love this book. The only thing I didn't like was that DiClaudio repeats certain things -- "it goes back to childhood experiences," "sex and fear are linked" etc -- to the point of annoyance.
Profile Image for Hazel.
171 reviews4 followers
December 28, 2019
Ive read all 3 of Dennis Diclaudios Pocket Guides. They are all entertaining and amusing. Not to be read if you are easily offended.

You will learn something from them all. They are quite short so easly to read though or just dip into occcasionally!

Thanks to Netgalley and Quatro Publishing for the ARC. My review is my own opinion.
Profile Image for Danielle Alexandria.
41 reviews16 followers
August 23, 2013
Super fun beginner book for those who find abnormal psychology and aberrant sexuality interesting. I have the Encyclopedia of Unusual Sexual Practices at home, so this was a bit remedial information-wise, but the writing style is very funny and the illustrations are great.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews