Richard Kern likes real women: unpretentious, unadorned, and definitely undressed. Those who love Kern know each book is an invitation to join him in his privileged world where natural young women share their most intimate moments. Kern has never lost his boyish curiosity with girls and their secrets, so instead of posing them in sterile sets he follows them through the house--or rather his New York apartment--from backyard to kitchen to bathroom to bedroom, capturing every sexy and embarrassing moment.Action is his most revealing book yet. Across 240 pages we careen through the life of Kern, accompanied by dozens of energetic, fun-loving, clothes-dropping exhibitionists. "Young women want to show the world they're not like their man-hating women's lib mothers," a Kern model once told me, and these girls certainly get their point across. To further assist the young ladies in their rebellion, the book includes an hour-long DVD of an original Kern film with an exclusive musical score by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth.

But since we know that sometimes it can be a little risky to look at a book this revealing in public, this special edition comes with TASCHEN's clever new Panic Cover feature to end public censure once and for all. Simply slip off the attractive but explicit cover, reverse, and redress--those ladies in the park will think you're reading The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire!

The photographer:
Richard Kern was born in North Carolina in 1954 and has lived and worked in New York City since 1979. In the '80s, he produced a series of short films that now are recognized as the central works of the movement known as the Cinema of Transgression. In the '90s he switched to still photography full time and occasionally directed music videos for bands including Sonic Youth and Marilyn Manson. Kern has published nine books and is a regular contributor to a variety of international publications.

The author:
Richard Prince, painter, photographer and collagist was born in 1949 in the Panama Canal Zone. He is known as a critic of and commentator on American consumer culture and as a master of appropriated art. He currently lives and works in New York City.

The editor:
Dian Hanson was born in Seattle in 1951. For 25 years she produced various men's magazines, including Puritan, Juggs and Leg Show, before becoming TASCHEN's sexy book editor in 2001. Her many books for TASCHEN include Vanessa del Rio: Fifty Years of Slightly Slutty Behavior, Tom of Finland XXL, and The Big Butt Book. She lives in Los Angeles.