Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 344
Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜
978-1-5381-1117-8 • Hardback • August 2018 • $45.00 • (£35.00)
978-1-5381-1118-5 • eBook • August 2018 • $42.50 • (£35.00)
Peter Tupper’s writing has appeared in Wired magazine, the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the Globe and Mail, the Utne Reader and www.TheTyee.ca. He is a co-founder of Metro Vancouver Kink, a non-profit BDSM community organization in Vancouver, BC, and remains active in the BDSM scene. He has researched and blogged about the history of consensual sadomasochism since 2005, and has presented at The Art of Loving in Vancouver, BC, the Center for Sex Positive Culture in Seattle, WA, and the 2012, 2013 and 2016 Master-slave Conferences. He has also been a guest on Graydancer’s Ropecast, the Masocast, Jack Rinella’s Leathercast, Erotic Awakening and the People of Kink podcasts. He edited and contributed to Our Lives, Our History: Consensual Master/slave relationships from ancient times to the 21st century (2016), which won the 2017 Geoff Mains Non-Fiction Book Award from the National Leather Association: International.
Chapter 1. Saints and Shamans
Chapter 2. The Pornography of the Puritan
Chapter 3. Virtue in Distress
Chapter 4. Orientalism
Chapter 5. The Peculiar Institution
Chapter 6. Romance of the Rod
Chapter 7. Class and Classification
Chapter 8. Every Woman Adores a Fascist
Chapter 9. The Velvet Underground
Chapter 10. Unknown Pleasures
Chapter 11. alt.sex
Chapter 12. Sex and Power
In this historical narrative of the private world of play, pleasure, and power, writer Peter Tupper seeks to answer questions of the origins of sadomasochism. A Lover’s Pinch places relationships and interactions involving corporal punishment and theatrics within the standard context of BDSM culture rooted in Freudian and Foucaultian theory. . . . A Lover’s Pinch offers essential context for students examining a comprehensive history of sexuality from a global perspective. Highly recommended.
— Choice Reviews
Whether relaying juicy stories of Victorian gentleman with (consensual) sex slaves or explaining the connection between Robinson Crusoe and modern BDSM porn, Tupper uses his own extensive experience in the BDSM and sex-positive communities to add richness, humor, and authenticity to this fascinating book.
— The Advocate
A Lover’s Pinch fills a void, and it dives to depths I couldn’t have imagined before I started reading . . . Peter Tupper has worked hard to “get it right”
— Of Sex and Love
Peter Tupper’s remarkably detailed work answers two key questions: Where does BDSM come from? And, even more importantly, What does it mean? Whatever your interest in kink is, A Lover’s Pinch deserves a prominent spot among your references.
— Ayzad, kink educator and author of "The Sexual Explorers Manifesto"
A selective, surprising, and thoroughly enlightening journey through the cultural history of sadomasochism. Accessible yet sophisticated, A Lover's Pinch will appeal to both general and academic readers alike.
— Umni Khan, Joint Chair in Women's Studies, Carelton University
In this wonderful history, Peter Tupper has collected an unprecedented amount of historical detail and context on BDSM practices. Clearly the result of both exhaustive research and up-close-and-personal experience with the modern BDSM community, A Lover’s Pinch is filled with stories I’ve never heard before. It's an invaluable historical resource for sex researchers, experienced BDSMers, and newcomers alike.
— Clarisse Thorn, author of “The S&M Feminist” and internationally renowned BDSM speaker
• Winner, Geoff Mains Non-Fiction Book Award, NLA-International (2019)
• Winner, CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title (2019)