Table of Contents

Introduction

Part One: Drawing, Painting, Carving, Writing
One The Oldest Impression
Two The "Hottentot Venus" and the History of Civilization
Three The Virgin and the Naughty Monkey
Four Fleshing the Press

Part Two: Mechanical Reproduction
Five Exposure Time
Six Stag Nation
Seven The Format War
Eight "U" Tube
Nine Erotica Online
Ten Virtual World FAQ
Eleven The Games People Play

Part Three: The Modern Pornography Industry
Twelve The Commercialization of the Internet
Thirteen Pornography Outstrips the Mainstream

Part Four: The Strange Future of Mass Communication
Fourteen Words Get in the Way
Fifteen Out of the MUD
Sixteen Emergent Sex and Non-emergent Technology
Seventeen The Law of Unintended Consequences
Eighteen Down but Not Out
Nineteen A Touchy Subject

For Further Reading
Acknowledgements
Index

About the Author

PATCHEN BARSS is Director, Communications and Media Relations, with the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. As a journalist he has written about science and the humanities in higher education for more than a decade. His
articles have appeared in the National Post, the Montreal Gazette, Reader's Digest, Saturday Night, This Magazine, and many other publications. He has been a technology and culture columnist for CBC Online and a producer for CBC Television.

Reviews

"From the first cave drawings to how 'jiggle physics' advanced computer graphics to the 'twitterdildonics' of the future, a thorough, accessible, smart and insightful look at how pornography has driven communication technology throughout history."
-- Josey Vogels, sex and relationships columnist and author of Bedside Manners: Sex Etiquette Made Easy

"With an argument rich in fascinating stories and compelling characters, Patchen Barss proves this page-turner's startling thesis: pornography inspires advanced forms of communication. The Erotic Engine is enlightening, entertaining, and intellectually titillating."
--Micah Toub, author of Growing Up Jung: Coming of Age as the Son of Two Shrinks