Being that I'm a reader of Jack Rinella via his weekly column that he sent out via a mailing list and I enjoy his essays on his website I was looking forward to reading one of his books. The book I chose to start with is The Compleat Slave - Creating and Living an Erotic Dominant/submissive Lifestyle. I've owned the book once before and after reading it, donated it to a local munch group's library. When it came time to review it for Submissive Guide I completely forgot what I thought of it so I knew I'd have to read it again.
It's a relatively small book as far as books go. You could get through it in several hours easily. If you are familiar with Jack's writing you will be comfortable with this book. He writes mostly from his perspective and the book is very much a personal reflection on his experiences in slavery.
This is written as a how to get into the scene book, first and foremost. He spends a lot of time talking about dating and getting to know people, playing and casual sex. There are an awful lot of personal stories, if you like that sort of thing. You get to know Jack's search first to become a slave and second to find his own to serve him.
This is a good overview of tips and guidelines book with a personal perspective to make it an insightful volume for anyone wishing to learn how to get into the lifestyle. Most experienced people won't glean any new information from the book, but it's a decent reference for your personal library.
This was a disappointing read, given that it purports to be about creating and living an erotic dominant/submissive lifestyle. Sure each relationship is different and we are all different in our relationship preferences. It gives a lot of tales of what Rinella likes and almost nothing is mentioned about the slave and how he handles being a slave, overcomes challenges, finds satisfaction in his choices, etc.; nothing pertaining to developing and building a 'compleat slave'.
Personally, I found the book boring to read and it took me almost 2 months to want to finish the book - I've been putting it off for more interesting reading. I'm not sure if I was just done with all of his personal stories or whether it was because they didn't pertain to me at all; I can't really say. If you are anywhere on your way to living a D/s relationship I seriously doubt you'll learn anything from this book unless you are very Rinella-like in your preferences.
It's more than likely going to be of interest for any novice with under 6 months of experience under their belt or are still dating and getting nowhere. I believe that was his focus for this book anyway. Definitely a disappointing read and not what I was expecting when I bought the book.
Product Details
- luna's Rating: 4/10
- Paperback: 176 pages
- Publisher: Daedalus Publishing Company (April 1992)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1881943135
- ISBN-13: 978-1881943136
- Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
