Best Bondage Erotica 2 [Paperback]

`Best Bondage Erotica 2' edited by Alison Tyler follows very closely in the footsteps of the first volume with this title. In fact, as I looked back at my review of `Best Bondage Erotica 1', I found almost exactly the same thoughts which came to mind upon reading the new collection.

To restate my original impressions in a slightly different way, I find that the one thing these collections are lacking is the kind of imagination dedicated to Domination / Submission scenarios and lifestyles as I find in some conventional fiction. The outstanding examples I can cite are some of Edgar Allen Poe's short stories such as `The Pit and the Pendulum' and `The Cast of Amontillado'; some of Stephen King's novels such as `Misery' and `Gerald's Game'; at least two episodes from each of the television shows `CSI' and `CSI:NY'. It seems as if all the very talented writers represented in this collection either do not realize the psychic / erotic power of some of these images, or they prefer playing it safe. What I am almost certain they are missing is the great liberating power of fiction, an insight which goes all the way back to Aristotle (`Poetics').

Instead, almost all of our authors rely on virtually the same tired scenario of good but slightly naughty girl finds herself with a dangerous but handsome and strong man who immobilizes her with (rope, chains, handcuffs, sofa, scarves, neckties .. you pick one) and commits some less than bourgeois form of foreplay with (hand, dildo, whip, scarf, clamps, ... you pick one) followed by cataclysmic climax and revelation that she and Mr. Tall and Handsome are really (good friends, lovers, former lovers, office mates,... you pick one). You get the idea. The variety in which this same simple scenario is played out is quite welcome. Especially welcome is the lack of cutsie Victorian dialogue of girlish squeals and testosterone fuelled snarling.

What all authors seem to have fallen into is the rut of recounting things that are feasible and, in most states, legal in the real world. The problem is that the imagination often wants more. How can you possibly explain the interest in things as diverse, and as improbable, as `Lord of the Rings', `Sin City', and the `Mad Max' movies if it were not to satisfy the itch to participate in an experience which is much, much, much larger than life.

The editor and the authors may benefit from the fact that they are the only game in town. Quentin Tarantino only buries a victim in every fifth movie and we have at least another few months before Peter Jackson reprises Fay Wray's first encounter with her very tall, dark stranger, and heaven knows where Stephen King is going these days.

So, there is simply no interest in truly imaginative fantasy evocations of the abyss of emotion connected with the terror / abandonment / release of being in some great circumstance, the greatest of which is death. You almost have to go back to some of the stories of the early saints to experience the liberating power of putting your trust, body, and soul in the hands of some other power.

But these are still the best modern stories we've got, so read them with pleasure and keep looking. Oh, and by the way, the cover is again one of the better aspects of this volume.

I'm not sure what it is about bondage stories nowadays, but majority of authors in this genre always rely on the same, tired cliche of a woman being dominated by a male boss, lover, husband, stranger, etc., and the even more lackluster and boring cliche of her being spanked, forced to call him "daddy" or "sir," and at the end the woman is his slave, not wanting anything more but to be his ultimate sex toy. Now, don't get me wrong, the scenario is hot, but after reading story after story of this same cliche, it starts to become trite and just boring and unimaginative. Most stories in this collection are about this cliche. I think it's quite a shame, since there's more to BDSM than the male being the top and the woman being the bottom. It would be nice if BDSM authors would explore female domination and male submission, and add a bit more imaginative bondage scenes other than the repetitive spanking and ageplay.

› Go to Amazon U.S. to see both reviews  3.0 out of 5 stars