⚠️ CALL FOR INFORMATION ON A LOST PIECE OF OBJECTUM MEDIA ⚠️
Earlier this week I attempted to purchase a book called Mechaphilia: The Sexual Attraction to Machines, a book published in 2003 that is of particular interest to me because of when, where, and by who it was written by — an anonymous mechaphile. The book was never shipped out and I cannot find another copy or much information about it anywhere.
If you have any information about this book, please contact me here or at [email protected]
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Hello there! My name is Casper Cielo. I am a full-time artist that often explores the topic of objectumsexuality. I am an amateur archivist and passionate community volunteer, with an interest in preserving objectum community history.
While looking for objectum literature on Amazon, I stumbled upon Mechaphilia: Sexual Attraction to Machines. After confirming the book was an early 2000s account from an anonymous mechaphile, I decided to purchase it for the purposes of archiving & personal research.
There was one single copy in stock through a private seller on the listing, with a mirror on AbeBooks by the same seller.
My order was cancelled two days after my initial purchase for what I can only assume was a lack of inventory.
Following this, I began a search to uncover another copy ...
The bulk of the information I have found out about this book is from two exhausted leads. A Wordpress blog from a psychologist who cited the book in his research had the following to say:
In 2003, a man simply calling himself ‘Schlessinger’ published a book called Mechaphilia: Sexual Attraction to Machines. The (non-academic) book charts Schlessinger’s “personal journey” of coming to terms with his sexual desire for machines and his quest to seek acceptance from his family and friends about his sexual love of machines. The book is detailed in his description such as his detailing of the curves of a reel-to-reel recorder that he fell in love with. Schlessinger ends the book by saying that he has happily come to accept his ‘quirky sexuality’.
I was able to establish contact and confirm he never personally owned the book.
I also got in contact with who I believe to be the publisher through a Facebook page that had been inactive since 2017. They left my message on read, so I can assume that they either do not have or have no desire to distribute the book.
The publisher in question looked to be a smaller independent venture with a presence both in Baltimore and, most interestingly, Berlin. All of this aligns with modern objectumsexuality’s European roots, Schlessinger’s name, and the book being spiral-bound, a comparatively cheaper binding method. I suspect the book was printed in small quantities and distributed primarily in Europe, though the seller I initially found for this book was in Portland, Oregon.
Because of its date of publishing, this book is one of the very few surviving raw accounts of an objectumsexual’s lived experiences circa the early 2000s. Many objectum spaces were lost following the dissolution of Yahoo Groups, and distrust of outsiders means we rarely see OS perspectives meant for a general audience. Most books on the subject skew academic, not anecdotal. This book also covers a European’s experience in my native language, making broadening my research less difficult.
Schlessinger also identified as a mechaphile, not an objectumsexual — these two terms have distinct, separate communities even today, and I would love to see what early mechaphile spaces looked like.
The publisher’s location is also of particular note to me, and I would be curious to see if Schlessinger was associated with OSI and/or Eija-Riitta due to his potential proximity to Berlin.
So how can you help?
As of now, all possible leads have been exhausted. If you do a Google search for this book, you will find my aforementioned leads. Please do not message them! They have done everything they can to help me.
As of now, I think the only way to find this book is to either pray someone has a PDF, or to find it in the real world. It is possible this book can pop up on secondhand sites, stores, or sales, especially around its area of distribution.
If you know of anyone who has this copy and would be willing to part with it, I am interested in offering money or art in exchange for it. Barring that, I am willing to also pay for shipping & hassle both ways to scan the book in and return it to its owner.
Those in explicitly European mechaphile / objectum spaces may have a better chance at finding this book or someone who knows more about it.
I have not reached out to lost media spaces or book sellers.
Please do not contact others on my behalf to avoid disturbing exhausted leads. Forward all leads to [email protected].