During the early 1990s the American research psychoanalyst Paul Joannides, who specialises in sexual medicine and has been on the editorial boards of the Journal of Sexual Medicine and the American Journal of Sexuality Education, had a bold idea – to produce a really informative book about sex which would be readable, approachable, honest and (as far as possible) fun. Thus was born The Guide to Getting It On, the first edition of which was published in 1996 by Joannides’ own California-based Goofy Foot Press.

It immediately started collecting rave reviews and book awards. Cosmopolitan wrote ‘This is the bible for everything you ever wanted to know about sex.’ Playboy said ‘Finally. A book about sex you'll actually want to read!’ And Oprah wrote ‘You’ve never read a manual as warm, friendly, liberating, thorough, and potentially sex-life-changing as this.’

One of the innovative features of the book was the first-hand accounts, making everything feel much more shared and less expert-driven than most books about sex. Another was the approachable, often light-hearted illustrations, commissioned by Joannides from Dærick Gröss, who the author knew and appreciated from Gröss’s comic style.