What if the antagonistic aspects of the massage practice—the therapeutic and the erotic—were seen as inseparable?
Massage and the Writer: Essays on Asian Massage
Isham Cook
American essayist and novelist based in China since 1994. Writing philosophy: downmarket, big concept, provocative, discriminating, outrageous. Ballard, Beckett, Borges, Dick, Kafka, Hesse, Melville, Mishima, Sade are influences.
A massage school
There is no such thing as strictly nonsexual massage: massage is always already erotic.
The curious benefits of neurosis
Crucially, she has the “touch.” Love in her hands.
Coffee and massage in Burma
Burma’s burgeoning massage and café industries considered in tandem.
My lovely little oriental doll: On yellow fever
On the triteness of the “yellow fever” and “Asian fetish” clichés.
When poets speak of death: 100 aphorisms and epigrams on massage
“When poets speak of death, they call it the place without breasts.”
Men massaging men: Three countries
I am drawn to the seedy establishments, poorly lit portals to the underworld, busy inside with silent activity, chess games of intimate squalor.
In search of Malaysian massage
As obsessed with massage as Malays are, they delegate the business to the Chinese.
Japanese voyeur massage: Theories
The Japanese have come up with a means of catering to women who wish to act out exhibitionist massage fantasies.
Icon, index, symbol, semen
The guilty customer, I displayed the sardonic coat of arms on my clothing for all to see.
Massaging the masseuse in Beijing and Bangkok
“Money is just money. But sexual companionship is priceless.”
The Exact Unknown and Other Tales of Modern China
This pioneering collection of delightfully disturbing tales by one unruly foreigner dredges up comedy blacker than a black hole.
Massaging the Yin-Yang in Pattaya
Learn to cross the divide into the gray wonderland where the Yin and Yang come apart.
The Taiwan massage scene
A Taipei masseuse’s rare combination of expert technique and open-mindedness makes for the most intense of massages.
Yangtze River cargo ship, bats, Agricultural Bank of China (video)
Hypnotic video of cargo ship passing down the Yangtze River in Wuhan at night.
ISHAM COOK 