Slippery Blisses

(What's In a Kiss?)

 
 
 

Book Proposal

 
 
 

Overview               Table of Contents               Author's Bio               Overview of Competition

 

 

Overview of the Book


This is a medium to large format book on kissing. The book would be on the history, science, social and cultural implications of kissing. Illustrated
with photographs, illustrations, and art featuring kissing, the book tells the story of the kiss in our society - from cradle to grave, from the start of history to present day, and how kissing exists in society from East to West.

The book could be released in conjunction with the film of the same name. The latter currently in post-production with the National Film Board of Canada.

There are a handful of books available on kissing, but this one is UNIQUE in that -

* it considers all aspects of this beautiful and universal gesture,
* it use fully both pictures and words,
* it includes recent studies and research into the science of kissing
* it comes in a medium to large format.

I see this book as something people would buy as a gift to a friend or loved one. The market being given the book as female, all ages. The market buying the book as male and female, 25-40 years old.

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Table of Contents

Introduction/Foreword

Why this book.
What kissing means to me as the author
My small personal (comic) history of kissing
 

What is a Kiss?

The medical explanation of a kiss
Various interpretations of a kiss - anecdotal, pictorial, some tidbits
of famous kisses from popular culture and recent history.

The History of Kissing

The first kiss recorded in history (a 6 millenium B.C. statuette)
The kiss in the ancient world - East and West
The kiss in the middle ages - including early Church history
The kiss in the Renaissance
The kiss in 17-19th century
The kiss in today's history - including cinema kisses

Kissing in Society

Cultural mores and the ways different people kiss
The kiss in non-human primate society
The kiss rituals in present society and Church
The bizarre world of kissing - the world records & strange stories
The kiss of death and goodbyes.

The Chemistry and Science of Kissing

Why we kiss? - The bond of kissing in newborns
The anthropology and ethology of kissing e.g. food kissing
Kissing in puberty - our sexuality and biological changes in the mouth
Kissing's importance in choosing a mate.
The health pros and cons of kissing

For the love of kissing

The future of kissing
Kisses of love and the world of love kisses
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Author's Bio


Jeannette Loakman is a documentary filmmaker, magazine and new media journalist, and television presenter. Previously published in Playback, DOX magazine, POV magazine, and a regular contributer to Canadian Documentary News, she was also on-air at City-TV and WTN, and appears occasionally as a guest on television discussion panels. She wrote the script for her last documentary - Mothers of Reinvention, and is working on the film Slippery Blisses:What's In a Kiss? with the National Film Board of Canada.

Slippery Blisses will be her first book and her third film.

Brought up and educated in England, a computer consultant for ten years -- she has lived in Europe, Asia, and North America, but Jeannette has now settled in Toronto with her two cats. Her passions include film, people watching, travel, and Scrabble.

(For more info. see Jeannette's CV)

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Overview of Competition


Listed below is a summary of books on the same or similar topic:

On Kissing, Adrienne Blue, 1994
An explanation of the author's belief of kissing as part of our love and human "continuum".
This book had no illustration and was written quite seriously.

The Kiss and Its History, Dr. Christopher Nyrop, 1901 & 1969
A compilation and study of kissing in history, written by a Danish romance philologist at the turn of the century.
No illustration, out of print, a rare book.

The Kissing book, Tomima Edmark, 1996
A small format hardback book - full of anecdotes, tidbits, and tips and techniques on kissing.
Little illustration, a summary of kisses and kissing tidbits, anecdotal.

The Art of Kissing, William Cane, 1994, 1996
A paperback on the techniques and types of kisses.
Little illustration, a summary of kisses and kissing tidbits, anecdotal including the results of surveys carried out by the author from the general
public. Light and fun.

365 ways to kiss, Tomima Edmark, 1995
365 ideas and suggestions to make kissing fun.

Kisses, Lena Tabora, 1994
Kissing in Hollywood films.
Lots of film stocks, a commentary on the kiss in cinema history, released with the Turner film - Kisses. Both the book and film are out of print. Good
pictures, but focussed only on cinema kisses.

The Kiss, various, 1996
A tiny pocket book of kissing photographs and famous anecdotes.

Kissing, 1995
A compilation of photographs of kisses curated in an art exhibition from a Santa Monica gallery.

The Kiss:Sacred and Profane, Nicholas Perella,
The kiss in the Church and religious ritual.  A critique and study of kissing as a ritual in society - particular the early
Church.

Le Baiser, Xavier Fauche and Christiane Noetzlin, 1986
A French book on kissing - its history and use in society and culture.

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Overview               Table of Contents               Author's Bio               Overview of Competition