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Book Review
TOP SECRETS
By Arthur Masters
(Reviewed by Sally W)
Mr M, aka Arthur Masters, has become a familiar character on the international CP scene, outside and beyond the fantasy world of the Club Corporal website and the lascivious writings of the mysterious Annabel Rose. In this book, which is a frank, entertaining and eminently readable account of his lifetime involvement with CP, we learn not only a great many intriguing details about Arthur, but also about CP itself and how it relates to and differs from the more widely known world of BDSM.
The opening scene of the book is a vivid description of a moment from a recent encounter, which this reviewer found to be as deeply moving as it was illuminating. From there, Arthur takes us back to his beginnings, to a very English childhood haunted by secret desires that he did not understand. It was not until his late teens that Arthur discovered he was not all alone with his kink, and his first erotic spanking experiences as a young man are described with nostalgic affection tinged with a wry humour.
If you have never visited the Red Light district in Amsterdam, Arthur's guided tour may be brief, but it is as if you are walking the cobbled streets yourself. When we reach Australia and New Zealand, it is again his skill as a writer that brings the pages to life. It is here that we are treated to a rare glimpse into the life of a professional male Dominant, a man who is paid to spank women, a career that we discover chose him, rather than the other way round. If you have ever wondered how you might deal with a man who wants you to discipline his wife, or a woman who asks you to meet her at a bus stop and spank her in a public park, Arthur has some useful pointers.
We may feel doubtful about the mindset of a Dom who pays for caning lessons from an Australian submissive rather than hone his skills on willing clients who would be paying him instead. We may also wonder why he would ban another client simply because she omitted to warn him that she bled easily, but when we discover that he regards his profession as a form of social work, we find we have been subtly persuaded to the same opinion.
With the arrival of the internet, Arthur's world changes as dramatically as it did for all of us. Now everyone can find everyone else and before long Arthur is sharing experiences with like-minded people from all over the world. By 2002 he has devised and launched his own website which to this day still features some of the UK's best known CP models.
The last chapters of the book find Arthur returning to 'active duty' as he calls it, but in a rather different role. He no longer plays the Dom to frustrated housewives trapped in 'vanilla' relationships. Now the work is unpaid and only with people already involved in the scene who have approached him to ask for help. As we are led through a number of these experiences, it becomes clear that Arthur now feels himself to be even more strongly motivated by his social conscience. It is also in these pages that we find some elements of personal tragedy, for even the best and noblest of intentions can never guarantee a happy ending.
For those of us who have met the real Arthur Masters, some of whom may find ourselves woven into the living threads of this fascinating story or pictured on the pages of his website, he is remembered as a warm and caring Dom with a passion for life, and for the love and adventure that he always so eagerly and sometimes recklessly pursues.
The passion and the love are all there in Top Secrets, as is Arthur's intelligent and often self-critical attitude to the situations that he finds himself involved in. His 'secret' life has been a long journey of discovery, a journey which, according to the bitter sweet comments on the final page, still absorbs and fires his spirit in the face of advancing years and declining health.
For anyone who is following a similar path, and even for those for whom the 'lifestyle' is still an unexplored and daunting wilderness, it is a rare privilege to be able to travel with him and share his secrets.
TOP SECRETS
by Arthur Masters
Published 2007 by Lulu.com
Available now from:
http://www.lulu.com/content/490308
Paperback Book: $US 22.70 Pdf Download: $US 14.56
Available also from:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/bookbrowser
http://www.bordersstores.com/index.jsp
And, if you live in NZ or Australia, from
http://www.highjinx.co.nz