The Correct Sadist
"The Correct Sadist: The Memoirs of Angel Stern" by Terence Sellers
First published in 1983 by Vitriol Press, New York, "The Correct Sadist" was recognized at once as a classic in a field not noted for literary excellence, swiftly achieving a renown similar to that accorded Pauline Reage's earlier "Story of O", another classic of sadomasochistic erotica.
"The Correct Sadist" is a combination of memoir, autobiography and philosophical speculation. Its author, Terence Sellers, was a renegade Catholic who early lost her faith and, in its stead, was converted to the writings of Marquis de Sade and the fevered effusions of the French fin-de-siècle decadents, in particular Baudelaire, Lautreamont, and Villers d' Isle Adam. her book with its ornate prose is to a large extent a purple pastiche of such writings.
The first section describes her 'temperament, interest, worldly, sensuous and proud', and her belief in her 'innate aristocracy'. Such convictions, fueled by what seems to be a psychopathic loathing of heterosexually ordinary heterosexual intercourse, propelled her into professional sadomasochism; she became mistress Angel Stern, Dominatrix. The middle section is a series of vignettes drawn from her professional experience. It is intended to act as a handbook for similar aspiring superiors, and Sellers describes in detail all the equipment needed to set up in business as a successful dominatrix, from douche bags and nipple clamps to a variety of whips and riding crops. She covers a vast range of topics including basic etiquette for the slave, the cleansing of the slave, bondage, chastisement, torture, verbal humiliation, fetishism, coprophilia and transvestism. These instructions are interspersed with brief role-playing dramas which furnish the reader with a handy range of vituperative invective for use in such professional situations. The final part of the book describes a spiritual crisis wherein Sellers loses her sense of the parameters of power and control, leading to terrible doubts as to "who is the vampire and who is the drained?" This debate essential to the sadomasochistic psychodrama wherein the slave can be seen to be exercising as much, if not more power than the Master.
Sellers has been criticized for her response, she favors a rigid "classism" in all areas of sadomasochistic role-play. She insists on style, perfection and dignity at all times and attempts to maintain the image of a "flawless lady". This means that the book is almost completely devoid of humor, apart from bitter jibes at the expense of the slaves whom she appears to detest above and beyond the call of duty.
Although Sellers intends to explain and illuminate sadomasochism, the anarchistic form and stylized language means that the book really functions as a period piece of pure pornography. The master-slave debate has acquired intriguing ramifications in recent years as discussion of sexual politics has widened to include criticism of sexual modes that appear to perpetuate the power games of patriarchal society sexuality, but Sellers book remains, in essence locked in the 1890s.
- Amazon review by JaneStrange on February 17, 2016
Just Brilliant, a rare look into an often misunderstood world, from the perspective of one of it modern day pioneers, the great and majestic Angel Stern, an extraordinary woman, i had the honor of knowing for a short while many moons ago....A brilliant writer she is indeed, a captivating book i would recommend highly to the critical and open mind!!!
- Amazon review by Karen W. on May 7, 2013
Angel Stern is a real person, a real Dominant and a wonderfully gifted writer.
I have spoken to her on a couple of occasions and she is everything she said and more. The book is written in a stilted, seemingly hyperbolic style that is VERY reminiscent of Victorian writings. This style may NOT be to everyone's taste, but it is effective and does exactly what she intends to do.
The book is a VERY rare and useful primer for the Domme Mindset or "Top Space". To me, as a practising Dominatrice for over 30 years, the book rings true. It is the forceful, clear, penetrating ring of a solid silver coin dropped upon a stone surface. You don't just read it, you HEAR it.
Other volumes may teach you the techniques of Japanese Shibari bondage, Queening, edgeplay or Florentine Double-Whip technique, but THIS book will teach you the MINDSET. You need *that* before you need the rest.
This book is not easy to read if you do not grasp the writing style. It may seem, to the one who does not, to be fake, stilted, overblown. However, the style is legitimate, true to its Victorian heritage and easily grasped by someone familiar with... or willing to become familiar with it. The bok is also explicit. Some descriptions will be unsettling. Still, among the sharp things, are the velvet petals of true Dominance and they are welcome as rain!
- Product Details
- Mass Market Paperback
- Publisher: Blue Moon Books (1777)
- asin: B01I26L3J0
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