Content CatnipBook Review: Sexographies by Gabriela Wiener
Sexographies is by famous Peruvian “gonzo” journalist Gabriela Wiener who dares to go where nobody has gone before – into the decadent, gritty and amusing sexual underworld of South America in a series of mind-blowing essays, published in English for the first time.
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Genre: Non-fiction, Essays, Memoir, Sex, Gonzo Journalism.
Publisher: Restless Books
Review in one word: Adventurous
Peruvian journalist Gabriela Wiener has carved out a solid name for herself as a Gonzo journalist and lifelong adventurer in Latin America. She is bold and unafraid of pulling back the curtains on underground worlds most people don’t know exist.
Sexographies is a collection of short, evocative and darkly funny essays published for the first time in English and what an absolute treat it is to read!
Weiner puts her mind, body and soul on the page for all readers to bare witness to and the result is a deeply compelling, vulnerable and yet totally funny depiction of a variety of crazy sexual underworlds that exist in Latin America in parallel to the vanilla existence of the mainstream.
The book features a series sumptuous, decadent, gritty and colourful worlds that exist on the far margins of society. Wiener chronicles her experiences infiltrating a dangerous Peruvian prison to understand its tattoo culture with hardcore criminals, participating in weird and amusing orgies in swingers’ clubs, and walking the dark paths of the Bois de Boulogne in Paris alongside trans sex workers.
She undergoes a complicated egg donation process and takes part in an ayahuasca ritual in the Amazon jungle and is coaxed for a while into joining a sex cult. What makes these essays so much more vivid is how each adventure is profoundly personal and all about her own inward journey.
“Mercedes teaches me to look at myself in the mirror, to confront my sensuality, to seduce with my gaze, to reveal my belly as I swing my hips to the rhythm of “The Girls of Alexandria.”
Badani enters and, without asking, takes a picture of me in the middle of a hip-swinging trance. La Gatita has graciously pronounced me a natural. I lap it all up.
By the end of the night, I want to be like these women. I want to be lavished with heart-shaped sweets and chocolate roses. I want my work to be a hobby. I want to live with all of my best friends and play amorous games together.
I want to embroider panties and bras. I want to cook for my man. I want to wear Arabian fantasy clothes. I want to love the present. I want a god.
Weiner is convinced by some charismatic women why she should join their sex cult.“For this she handed me the flogger, a whip with a leather handle and several strips. “I want to see your grip. Test it on your hand.” I took the flogger, combed it with my fingers and brought it down on my hand putting on a “bad girl” facial expression. Monique told me to flog the wardrobe.
I hit so hard I thought I nearly dismantled it. Monique laughed at me. “If that was a slave you would’ve destroyed his kidneys. What matters is not to hit hard, it’s to hit intoxicatingly.”
They say cruelty is a purely feminine virtue. I looked at Monique and asked her what was the most essential thing for me to know.
“Believe in yourself, love yourself, and know that you’re the best. You need to be self-aware, honorable, know your limits, and know the human body. Otherwise, it’s like handing a revolver to a monkey.”
Weiner gets tough lessons in being a dominatrix.“Some people think you’re a woman but when they find out you’re not they don’t care. They’re often really into it. They tell me it’s their first time and ask me if they can touch me. Before you know it, they’re down on their knees acting out their repressed fantasies. Everyone’s got their own drama.”
Vanesa can be vulgar but dreams of being treated like a sensitive girl. Everyone’s got their own drama.”
Weiner walking at night in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris alongside Vanesa, a trans sex worker.She is not taking in the mayhem from an anthropological distance, instead she is forever changed by intense experiences that challenge her ideas of monogamy and polyamory, immigration, motherhood, her fear of death and loads more.
The biggest theme is arguably the identity, gender and the human body and likewise how she feels about her own body. Her journeys into the far edges of human experience are thrilling and enjoyable and her writing style is deep, unflinching and totally addictive. I would highly recommend this book!
About the Author
Gabriela Wiener is a Peruvian writer and journalist, living in Madrid, Spain. She is considered a leading voice in “gonzo” journalism in the Spanish-speaking world. Her work explores themes of sexuality, identity, and migration with a unique, first-person, immersive style.
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