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Alan Moore

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25,000 Years of Erotic Freedom Hardcover – Oct. 1 2009

by Alan Moore (Author)

4.3 36 ratings

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With each new technological advance, pornography has proliferated and degraded in quality. Today, porn is everywhere, but where is it art? 25,000 Years of Erotic Freedom surveys the history of pornography and argues that the success and vibrancy of a society relates to its permissiveness in sexual matters.
This history of erotic art brings together some of the most provocative illustrations ever published, showcasing the evolution of pornography over diverse cultures from prehistoric to modern times. Beginning with the Venus of Willendorf, created between 24,000-22,000 bce, and book-ended by contemporary photography, it also contains a timeline covering major erotic works in several cultures. 25,000 Years of Erotic Freedom ably captures the ancient and insuppressible creative drive of the sexual spirit, making this book a treatise on erotic art.

Print length

96 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Abrams
Publication date

Oct. 1 2009
Grade level

8 and up
Dimensions

17.15 x 1.91 x 23.5 cm
ISBN-10

081094846X
ISBN-13

978-0810948464
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Product description

About the Author

Alan Moore lives in Northampton, England, and is most famous for his influential work in comics, including the acclaimed comic books Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell. In 2006 Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie released Lost Girls, an illustrated series of erotic art exploring the possible sexual meanings in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He lives in Northampton, England. Eva Prinz is a New York-based editor and curator.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Abrams (Oct. 1 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 96 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 081094846X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0810948464
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 522 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 17.15 x 1.91 x 23.5 cm

Best Sellers Rank: #2,035,857 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #407 in Pornography
- #2,509 in Erotic Art

Customer Reviews:
4.3 36 ratings

About the author

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Alan Moore

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Alan Moore is an English writer most famous for his influential work in comics, including the acclaimed graphic novels Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell. He has also written a novel, Voice of the Fire, and performs "workings" (one-off performance art/spoken word pieces) with The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels, some of which have been released on CD.

Bio and photo from Goodreads.

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Leonora Carrington

Even more interesting than I anticipated

Reviewed in Canada on April 16, 2014

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Humourous and interesting for anyone with an open mind about the history of pornography. Alan Moore is a favourite writer of mine so I may be biased but I was very happy with this!

Reviewed in Canada on November 9, 2009

Alan Moore makes another set of good points with this book. Its definitely not written like your typical history book but the writing is fun, straightforward, insightful and makes a good argument. For those who read that article in Arthur way back when it was published, it really does expand on the ideas therein. This book does not blindly celebrate modern pornography and does definitely suggest where the "seediness" of it is rooted but he does make the case that we should not shut out sex from our accepted cultural topics and subjects. I definitely recommend the read.

2 people found this helpful

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D. Goldie

Erotic History Lessons from the Salacious Scribe

Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2010

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25,000 Years of Erotic Freedom is an unedited and expanded hard cover binding of an essay that Alan Moore wrote for "Arthur" Magazine during the publication of his erotic graphic novel masterpiece the Lost Girls. The book is a light survey of humanities' obsession with sex since the dawn of time to present day, illustrated with many full page panels of titillating art and the masterful prose of Moore. Like the Lost Girls, 25,000 years of Erotic Freedom does not seek to overtly glorify "pornography" or taboo subjects, but merely brings them to light and exposes the fact that we are more drawn to that which we publicly object to than we willingly admit. Moore explores our double-sided viewpoint on all things erotic, at once trying to sweep it under the carpet while secretly pilfering guilty glances while no one else is looking; and analysis the effect that such a suppressive attitude has had on sexuality and culture in general. A wonderful read for anyone who is tired of feeling guilty for wanting to explore all that sexuality has to offer in a culture that practically buries us under mountains of sexual suggestion while slapping our wrists for getting excited.

18 people found this helpful

Sam Woodward

Art or porn?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 8, 2011

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This concise & beautifully presented tome contains Northampton's hairiest authors' musings upon pornography/erotic art throughout the ages, from the sculpting of the Venus Of Willendorf between 24,000 & 22,000 years ago to the present. He also addresses why pornography has historically been hailed as art when it is now perceived as something seedy to be concealed under the mattress.

Moore perceives a correlation between sexual liberation & socially enlightened societies, drawing upon examples such as the ancient Greeks, who were constantly surrounded by erotic friezes & statues of "Pan violating many of our current barnyard... and a really slutty nanny goat in the bargain." Conversely, he believes that Constantine's adaptation of Christianity led to the downfall of the Roman Empire & a cultural shift towards repression & sexual guilt which ushered in the Dark Ages. While early Christian churches also contained images of naked flesh to get punters on pews, the context was very different from that of ancient Greece, since "implicitly, it was acceptable to enjoy sexual imagery as long as you accepted also that such acts were sinful and felt suitably ashamed and guilty if you were in any way aroused by their depiction. This established the immediate link between the perusal of pornography and intense self-loathing or embarrassment, which sill exists today throughout most of the Western world."

This isn't an academic piece, so there's no referencing to reinforce Moore's musings, although of one particularly far-fetched Victorian practice, he impishly concedes that "yes, I know it sounds ridiculous, but I was told that by Malcolm McLaren, and if you can't trust Malcolm McLaren then whom can you trust?" This is an example of the tongue-in-cheek-while-making-a-serious-point charm which exudes from these beautiful pages.

And the pages are indeed beautiful - this thin volume houses quality paper lavished with numerous examples of erotic & nude art from a plethora of periods. There's a number of surprises, too - for instance, I have a passing admiration for Hokusai & have attended a couple of exhibitions of his work, yet had no idea that he had made erotic prints until I saw the examples reproduced herein. This is consistent with other examples Moore provides of noted artists whose erotic daubings were destroyed by their relations upon inheriting their estates; sexual appreciation seems to be constantly edited out of history.

Yet hope is on the horizon. If individual artists "have the nerve to plant their flags in the this despised & dangerous terrain... [then] the erotic might be elevated from her current status as a hooker everyone keeps chained up in the cellar but nobody talks about... back to her previous position as a goddess." Moore has planted his flag with this book & the controversial Lost Girls - let's see if anyone with a similar profile follows suit.

8 people found this helpful

MindPassport

Beautiful Art Book

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2013

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This little text is an exceptional piece of art history that throws light on sex as the subject of art as opposed to the ascetic approach taken by so many art books. Alan Moore is an exceptional writer of comics (up in there in the pantheon.) It turns out he is not unschooled in the history of art and this book is a genuine work of scholarship and an astute analysis of the status of pornography in our world today. There is a panel in "Watchmen" where Ozymandias is sitting in his secret base with a whole wall of televisions analyzing what it is that the world watches and points out that there are even sexual innuendos in commercials for children's candy bars now. This sort of over-saturation of sexuality in our modern world where sex itself is prohibited reinforces a cycle of guilt, Moore argues.

So in a sense, this book is a plea for sanity and tolerance in the way we think about sex. The difference Moore notes between erotica and pornography is usually the amount of money the purchaser makes. So pornography should be restored to its proper place as art and not relegated to some marginal standard-less cellar. Moore diligently chronicles the prejudices exacted on erotic expression in art (mainly since the 19th century, which is why I give the book a 4) with humor and style. Reading the book is great experience, it challenges many assumptions about what is considered acceptable and what is not. If you have read Moore's work before than this is an excellent supplement to his work, it is also wonderful it own right if you're interested in art, sex, or both.

One person found this helpful

JackFaust77

Fun, Informative Romp

Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2010

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This slim book is an expanded form of a piece Moore wrote for the counter-cultural free magazine ARTHUR a few years back. It's a great tour of the history of erotic/pornographic art, ideas, human attitudes towards such. It is not scholarly, but Moore simply riffing is a real treat: insightful, amusing, informative and thought provoking.

15 people found this helpful

SeaGoat under Sirius

Superb!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 23, 2012

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Alan Moore does it again ... a mesmerizing and often hilarious account of porn through the epochs from one of the greatest writers of our time, and one of the most visionary of men living today. Sayeth he: "Sexually progressive cultures gave us literature, philosophy, civilization and the rest, while sexually restrictive cultures gave us the Dark Ages and the Holocaust". Well worth the price. Apart from the stickers on the otherwise beautiful cover, it's 100% perfect in its pleasure.

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25,000 Years of Erotic Freedom Hardcover – Oct. 1 2009

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About the Author

Product details

About the author

Alan Moore

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