HELLO NEW VISITORS. Please be warned, I am quoting portions of the book in the comments. THIS MAY BE TRIGGERING for abuse survivors.
Note: I do not condone, agree with, or endorse p*dophilia in any way or form and I find this book reprehensible.
You following the news? A pro-p*edophilia manual/manifesto book is being sold on Amazon, and the internet is, justifiably, shitting itself. There was a review on Amazon that got me thinking:
I have seen this kind of argument all over the place today, so I decided to put my money where my mouth was: I paid for it and downloaded it.
There is discussion of “appropriate” sexual activities between minors and adults, including discussion of contraceptives. There are pornographic accounts of sex between minors and adults. The plight of p*dophiles is compared to the plight of the Jews during World War II. There are made up words. It IS a how to, and a how-to-not-get-caught. It is Not Nice at All. I felt queasy after skimming it.
A selection of quotes:
As long as both partners have passed the age or majority, there is no question of p*dophilia. So, a ninety-year-old is not a pedophile if its partner is thirteen and they both live in New Mexico.
Do not imagine that you have been given a mere code of ethics. Instead consider that the nectar of love has been given from the hand of compassion and grace. To this the eye of truth and fairness doth witness. Ponder upon this, O people of vision.
Now you have a brief summary of the crazy. Flame/link away. I will answer questions if you like.
ETA: Author says he has sold one copy. [via Badgermama]
Update, 8:06 p.m.: The book’s URL now is a 404 page.
Update, 12-Nov: I’ve closed comments. Thanks, everyone, for stopping by and commenting. The news cycle has moved on very quickly, as usual, but if anyone has any questions I can be reached as always via email, SJ @ this domain. Thanks again.
Well you’re brave. Ugh!!!!!
I haven’t read it myself. And unlike you, I wouldn’t buy it so that I could justify my argument. Additionally, I feel that the criticism is only fueling the fire, so to speak. I wouldn’t have bothered to research a book I hadn’t heard of… but word of mouth is free advertising and now me and your other readers are now aware of a book. There may be several of us who facebook link you so that others can be aware of this. Bad press is still press… and press leads to money.
Do I think Amazon should sell this book? No. I figure this stuff does more harm than good. Should the publisher have agreed to publish it? No. Again, it does more harm than good. There’s that whole first amendment thing, but if you can’t shout “fire” in a crowded theatre, you shouldn’t be able to write something that gives a How-To on molesting children.
So I’m not facebooking this. I’m not going to talk about it. It’s reprehensible. And I’m not going to draw more attention to this than has already been done.
I have a bunch of questions but still can’t bring myself to buy and read it. Is it sort of focused on how to get respect as a 14 year old hooker on the street? Or about how to molest toddlers? Or what?
Brittany: I completely understand you wanting to shun it and not fuel the fire. I have done this with many things on the internet myself.
Hey badgermama: Perhaps I will quote from the text.
“While it is not my intention to promote or excuse this practice, I would rather see p*dosexuals conquer the world than hear of even one more child being killed because another p*dosexual-p*dophile is driven into a state of p*docidal-psychosis, or a paranoid-panic-attack, due to the constant hate-mongering which can be heard from every corner of the Earth, demonizing every j*vephile regardless of the quality or character of their sexual relations with minors.”
To me, overall, the author’s tone reads as unfairly oppressed. It’s rather conflicted, because in one paragraph he talks about contraceptives and in another he says acts of p*dophilia should be avoided at all costs.
Thank you for making this sacrifice of your mind to verify the content of this book. I hope that the outrage being expressed will spur parents on to educating themselves in how to protect their children from the type of people who read these titles.
I sincerely hope that this book surfacing on the internet and people having discussions about it brings about more positive than negative effects. I feel like it’s better to expose these things to light, personally. Thanks for the comment.
You’re brave to have downloaded it. I would be feeling all weird too.
Children and sex should not go together. Not at all. I don’t think a person has a lot of control over what “lights his fire” but there are social morays that say no – justifiably – and so, DON’T TOUCH. No. Not at all. Not ever.
Can a person write what he/she wants? Sure. Print it? Yes. My thought is that a big company like Amazon doesn’t need $5 from anyone over such an untouchable subject. Will they go broke from not selling it? Of course not. All stores have policies… and sometimes policies need exceptions.
This book is gross. And it’s intrinsically harmful because it shows and directs how exactly to groom a child for one’s own sexual pleasures. Wrong. WRONG! Information is everywhere, but a powerhouse like Amazon doesn’t need to help peddle drivel for diddlers. And to me, there’s no fine line here about it’s value, at all. They’d have been wiser not to accept this book in their stockrooms at all.
And now I’ll have to start shopping for books somewhere else. *snaps* Drat.
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Would you consider it actually illegal material? And since you don’t have subscribe to comments on here, can you email me if you reply? Just in case I don’t see it. :)
Oh man actually I just burst out laughing so hard because the dude says he has sold exactly one copy.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/amazon/author-pedophile-book-says-he-has-sold-one-copy-creepy-title
There’s probably some book that I would have benefited from reading back when I was jailbait, but it doesn’t look like this was it.
Meanwhile everyone still loves “Lolita”. I wouldn’t boycott Amazon over this dumb crank’s book. Publish away, jerks!
Hi Grumble Girl: thanks for your thoughtful comment. I, personally, as a librarian, mother, and thinking person, am not afraid of ideas, but am afraid of what people might do with specific instructions, like, for instance, instructions on building a bomb. I understand your desire to boycott Amazon. I was making jokes about it earlier on Twitter, but I am currently undecided if I will boycott or not.
Avitable: would I consider it illegal material? It certainly discusses illegal activities.
Badgermama: He sold one copy? And that is to me. SWELL.
Discussing illegal activity is not the same thing as being illegal, though. I could write an entire post talking about how much I love to inject heroin into my eyeballs, but unless I’m talking specifically about what street corner you go to so you can buy some, it’s not illegal. It’s a fine line, which is why I’m asking.
I am concerned about free speech.
There are a lot of books that talk about illegal things but the books are published because knowledge isn’t illegal but the act of the specific crime is.
What you have quoted here is making me nauseous.
I don’t know about selling one book – according to an LA Times article I read, it went from ranking 159k to 5k after the uproar, that’s a lot more than 1 book sold. The uproar has certainly contributed to sales if those numbers are correct.
The only positive I can think of is that it will be a good resource for law enforcement, social services, therapists and even parents – we can learn a lot to protect children and society by knowing how criminals think.
Yes, Avitable, I see the distinction. I am no lawyer, but reviewing the RCW, I think it is NOT illegal material, since it seems the code covers photographs/enactments/performances. http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9.68A.050 The visual/printed matter refers to photographs and there are no photos.
Thank you, everyone who has commented, for commenting so civilly and reasonably, even if you disagree with my purchasing it, and with Amazon, and the author.
While I find the content absolutely reprehensible, I still defend the guy’s right to publish such a thing. Also, this type of information has been available on BBSes and Usenet for ages, so he’s also probably a plagiarist.
I 100% agree with Grumble Girl; children should not be thought of sexually in any manner. The how-not-to-get-caught aspect of this book really makes me ill.
Thank you for making this sacrifice to verify the content of this book. I am glad that he’s only sold ONE copy, which was used to only verify that we are all RIGHT and that this is completely inappropriate! Thank you for sharing this validation with us.
I have deleted my Amazon account and have deleted ALL Amazon modules from my squidoo lenses.
Thanks again!
FYI, Amazon also sells The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an Anti-Semitic text that has been discredited for decades and shown to be forged.
First of all, thank you for bravely reading this trash and realizing that yes, this outrage is justified. I don’t think it’s censorship if Amazon removes the book because it certainly seems to violate their policies and to explain how to commit a crime. Saying he can never write this information anywhere would be censorship, I’m just saying I wish Amazon support it.
Though, since I have my kids’ Christmas lists on Amazon, boycotting is going to suck.
Can you tell me if the quotes from TexasGal in the Amazon discussion forum are accurate?
http://www.amazon.com/Excerpts-wondering-critics-people-havent/forum/Fx3PDJ1ITSD60LA/TxK8XG68284IFG/1/ref=cm_cd_NOREF?_encoding=UTF8&s=digital-text&asin=B0049U4CF6&newContentNum=36&cdMSG=addedToThread&store=digital-text&cdSort=oldest&newContentID=Mx2RA0UKCE9W0PJ#CustomerDiscussionsNRPB
Planning to post on this again tomorrow…
http://www.milehimama.com/2010/11/10/amazon-fail/
Milehimama: Yes, without checking them side by side to verify, that looks very much like what I read in the book, word for word.
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To be clear, I think it was Brittany above who mentions the “publisher” never should have published it. I’m not sure if anyone else in this thread has pointed it out, but there is no publisher for this book. Not in the traditional sense.
If you look at the product page you’ll see the publisher listed as the author himself. He used Amazon’s Digital Text Platform to self publish his book. Which sort of makes Amazon the publisher though they take the stance of “marketplace” or “distributor”. But this is the danger in making publishing so readily available without the assets that publishing offers such as editors, fact checkers, legal teams and so on. Oh, and lets not forget common sense.
The thing that disturbs me is Amazon is now offering this service and HAS a Content Guideline statement that mentions the things they reserve the right to NOT sell, yet this item was able to get through.
That basically means they aren’t reviewing material/content prior to it going live and probably don’t have a department responsible for checking materials. They probably just go live. So the Content Guidelines are for show. I emailed Amazon earlier to confirm whether they review materials or not and received the form response without addressing the question.
That seriously concerns me about the self publishing movement.
Great point, Kate. I had that thought earlier about the self-publishing–and I know that a lot of the Amazon merchant services are now self-serve. Thanks for making the point.
I am in favour of this sort of topic being discussed because I think that overall, it reduces the shame and secrecy that conceals child sexual abuse. Also as a parent, and as an aunt, I want to know what the techniques and behaviours of abusers are, so that i have some more ways to protect my children. I make myself read the newspaper articles about it for these reasons. This book? Don’t know if I can bear to. But I do fully support you reviewing it and making it a topic of discussion.
My question – is there anything you learnt that can contribute to protecting your (or others) children?
You are brave, I’d be worried the FBI would be looking at who bought it.
But this whole thing is crazy, Amazon really did not publish it, pretty much any idiot can publish on the kindle platform. You don’t even need to know how to spell.
Here’s a handy link for your #amazonfail outrage folks.
http://amzn.to/Pedophiles
And here is another actual printed book about “Boy Lovers!”
http://amzn.to/Molest
I just want to thank you for checking the book out and letting us know that it IS exactly what we think it is. I can’t imagine how it made your toes curl to read that sickening crap. Again, thank you thank you thank you for setting the record straight on what the content of the book really is!
Why don’t you get a refund so that that sicko doesn’t get to keep your money?
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I find the book disgusting, yet applaud you for checking it out to find out for yourserlf. The thing that is weirding me out is that the creeps out there are being directed to a ‘book’ because of all the Tweets and blog posts about it
I’m glad that someone reputable (you) has read the text in its entirety and is able to answer questions intelligently. I feel that it increases your credibility as an intelligent person…
As for the book itself, I have some questions.
Does the mention of contraceptives seem medically accurate to you? Are there glaring fails in the instructions (other than the obvious…)
In your opinion, how connected to reality is the “how not to get caught” section? For example, are there parts of it which would obviously unlikely to work? Can you summarize them here if so?
How many pages is it?
I’m not going to “boycott” Amazon, of course. I respect them for promoting free speech. Free speech is yucky by definition, and it’s easy to ban something yucky and then use it as an excuse to ban something slightly less beyond-the-pale, and then use that to… etc. recursively. I do understand that the “how-to” section puts this book into the category of books which could be actively, rather than passively, harmful. However, I feel that the contents of this book (as so far described) are not substantially likely to increase the rate of p*dophelic attacks committed by any being in its sphere of influence.
Man, this would make a great ethics bowl case for my university.
I’m glad you bought it and reported. And grateful, because it’s making me kind of queasy just to think of reading it. And, like you, I think it’s better to have it out there where parents and teachers and etc. can read exactly how p*dophiles are advised to not get caught. Someone else in comments above asked if you’d learned anything that would be helpful– I’d be interested in knowing about that, too.
Plus, think of all the other truly offensive and/or harmful crap Amazon sells. This may be among the worst, but it’s certainly not the only one. I understand the urge to boycott, but I really think with a company the size and breadth of Amazon it might not be very effective.
Jane and Elswhere: Interesting question. As a parent, I don’t think there’s any value in the book. The author does not talk about where or how to cultivate relationships with children, thank goodness. For someone studying deviant psych, I don’t know. maybe. I do not think this book has any real redeeming value.
Aviya: Yes, I have heard that this could be a “good” use of the Patriot Act, but I don’t know if that’s possible or how true that is. My thought is that, other than this book, I have nothing to hide should my hard drive be seized tomorrow.
Thanks, everyone else, for the feedback. :)
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Hi Geek:
1. Does the mention of contraceptives seem medically accurate to you? Are there glaring fails in the instructions (other than the obvious…)
2. In your opinion, how connected to reality is the “how not to get caught” section? For example, are there parts of it which would obviously unlikely to work? Can you summarize them here if so?
3. How many pages is it?
Phwar, I guess I need to crack it open again. Willing to do so, though.
1. Here is what the author says about contraceptives. I know what he refers to as “finger cots.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger_cot
“Latex, finger coits, intended to protect finger cuts from being infected, can provide the same level of protection as the adult latex sheath. They come in three sizes, small, medium, and large, one of which is sure to fit any child under thirteen.” [sic]
2. Here are some of the author’s thoughts on what I see as “attempts not to get caught.”
“Caution should be taken, however, as any mention of mini-condoms, even in a joking manner, could get these coits moved behind the counter. Well-meaning folks will imagine they are discouraging sexual activity with and among the very young. The truth is, however, they are only making sexual congress among juveniles more dangerous, not any less desired or pursued.” [sic]
“Pinup pictures of fully clothed juveniles in your bedroom (the cops may arrest you if any of these pictures show underage children nude), and use them as masturbation material…The teen, celebrity, magazines have many handsome, fresh faces, or so I am told. And, what is more, every celebrity must accept that will be the object of someone’s sexual fantasy at some place and time.” [sic throughout]
3. Kindle for PC says 342 pages.
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The only people that would buy this book are p*dos and people who are curious like yourself. The former will use this or any other case or material to justify their reasoning of molesting kids anyway and the latter would not all of a sudden think that molesting kids is great if they follow this code.
So basically, this book is moot. Keep it up, ban it, there are bigger issues in the world like ACTUAL child porn and p*dos, not just books about them. If that was the case, Lolita wouldn’t be on shelves.
The book has been pulled from Amazon!
Thank you for clarifying what all of us hoped was an internet rumor gone amuck.
Besides being appalled, enraged and fearful for our children, I am struck how many people flinging muck at Amazon (and yes, they deserve it and then some) are failing to see the point: our best defense against these predators is knowledge.
So the little I can do to help is share this amazing post by New York City Crown Prosecutor Jill Starishevsky and author of the book “My Body Belongs to Me” in hopes it gets the message out to parents everyone who are as shocked as I am about this story.
(Full disclosure: MOMeo Magazine is published by me)
http://www.momeomagazine.com/parenting-101-how-to-teach-your-kids-about-body-safety/
Do I defend Amazon’s RIGHT to sell this item? Yes. Do I defend Amazon’s DECISION to sell this? No. See the difference?
Amazon does not need to sell materials like this to demonstrate its commitment to free speech rights. No one’s constitutional rights would be violated if Amazon refused to sell this, any more than my rights to free speech are violated if the local newspaper refuses to print a letter I write to them.
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Interesting. Thank you.
I agree with Tom — Amazon absolutely has a right to sell this disgusting book. The business decision to do so, however, is most definitely a poor one. They’ll no doubt hurt this holiday season as a result of outraged parents shopping elsewhere. Apple 1, Amazon 0.
As was mentioned above, the greatest weapon against p*dophilia is indeed knowledge. However, beyond simply spreading self-defense knowledge to parents and kids, we also need to address a deeper issue which runs through our culture like a cancer — sexual shame. There is a great amount of shame heaped upon anyone who has thoughts deemed sexually deviant by the masses. If potential p*dophiles were encouraged to speak up when their desires are potential rather than kinetic, we would have a greater opportunity to help people before they become abusers.
Also, sadly, shame is often heaped on the victims of sexual abuse as well. This will need to stop before we can have a hope of healing people with this affliction and preventing further sexual violence.
As for adults who have this sexual fetish and feel there is no chance of changing, I would suggest that engaging in consensual role-play with another adult could help funnel some potential abusers into an activity that, while certainly squicky to the rest of us, is arguably better than abusing minors.
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Freedom of speech?! Are you guys kidding?!? We’re talking about a manual on how to MOLEST CHILDREN!!!!!!!!!!!!
God help us if we’re trying to fund reasons that this is anything but the darkest of horrors. We need to stop protecting the monsters and start protecting the real victims.
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Tara, AKA EXCLAMO!!! No one in this entire chain of comments was defending the author on the basis of free speech. If you take your hand off your pearls for a second and actually read what is being written, you will see adults having discussions about the various grey issues in our “free” society. Please go shit punctuation marks elsewhere.
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