Erotic Interludes: Tales Told by Women [Hardcover]

People don't change, sex doesn't change. Writing about sex doesn't change much, either. Originally published in 1986, this volume of short stories ages fairly well, I think. What it's lost in bite is still made up for with flavor. These stories are not as edgy as they were back in '86, but they are still good stories.

Some real gems appear here. Valerie Kelly's "Berlioz and the Ghetto Blaster" takes a genre sex-fantasy staple - the hunky handyman - and renders it with such reality and connection that it becomes fresh again, and one of the hottest pieces in the book. Gayle Feyrer turns to science fiction/fantasy for "The House of the Twin Jewels," an intense and marvelously evoked depiction of lust and beauty as an alien woman falls for a male pleasure-slave. The beautifully-written and painstakingly-evoked "Birthing," by Doraine Poretz, really got to me on a fundamental level, as did Rebecca Silver's "Fearful Symmetry." Sandy Boucher's "Humming," about an older woman loving a younger woman, is beautiful and resonant, and deeply comforting.

Most of the other offerings are at least good, and though there are a few that aren't my thing, there was only one that I really disliked. That was, unfortunately, the first story in the book, but thankfully, I plowed right on through, and was glad to discover some stories that I will definitely revisit in the future.

As a whole, this is varied, evocative, writing, and the subject matter is just challenging enough to be piquant but not uncomfortable.

Considered in a modern context, the stories are not particularly shocking or provocative (though there are exceptions). It reads much like any collection of women's erotica . . . smooth, gentle, and not so much randy as emotional.

A lot of it is very well-written though a majority of it is a bit more billowing and metaphorical than really crazy with the hips, and the writing does skew toward the "and when she had an orgasm, the whole universe came with her, because she was At One With Everything" school of sex writing.

Writers, take heed. There is a difference between having well-groomed, genteel sex scenes, and writing like a rapidly-deflating patchouli-scented gasbag. If your heroine touches the world when she touches herself, you are probably hanging too much on the Big O. Beware the impulse to overstate.

Okay?

Okay.

Overall, worth a look.

I bought this when I looked at the index and saw one of the authors is Tee A. Corinne who truly knows how to deliver a story.

This is a Keeper!

I found the following information on the book -

From Publishers Weekly

What do women want sexually? Here 21 women writers, some pseudonymous, spin a variety of candid erotic fantasies in an attempt to answer the question with a turn-on for every taste and circumstance. One of the most imaginative, "The House of the Twin Jewels," describes a futuristic brothel for female patrons. "A Japanese Play" features group sex for money while the camera rolls. "The Scavenger Hunt" and "Humming" celebrate lesbian love, the latter affording a healing experience for one partner, her "aging body wracked these days with the storms of menopause." In "Fearful Symmetry" the handicapped male lover has a prosthetic arm. "Cradles of Light" mingles autoerotic enjoyments with memories of the past. Clinical therapist Barbach has written and edited several volumes (including the nonfiction Pleasures: Women Write Erotica designed to help women fulfill their sensual potential. Her introductory comments to this book stress the need for affirmation, tenderness and mystery. Unhappily, many of the stories suffer from awkwardly sentimental and amateurish writing. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternates. Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the book - 21 erotic short stories by women, for women. "In this intense exploration of seduction, romance, and erotic fantasy, Lonnie Barbach has collected 21 tales that stimulate the mind as well-as the .body. These graphic stories, filled with the unexpected and forbidden, brilliantly capture the myriad layers, colors, and visions of every woman's sexuality. These stories - by and about women, young and old, married and single, heterosexual and lesbian - involve mysterious partners, racy games, risqué encounters, and more. The result is a classic work of passion that can be used as a starting point for shared intimacies or as a pleasure experienced alone."

I bought this when I looked at the index and saw one of the authors is Tee A. Corinne who truly knows how to deliver a story.

This is a Keeper!

I found the following information on the book -

From Publishers Weekly

What do women want sexually? Here 21 women writers, some pseudonymous, spin a variety of candid erotic fantasies in an attempt to answer the question with a turn-on for every taste and circumstance. One of the most imaginative, "The House of the Twin Jewels," describes a futuristic brothel for female patrons. "A Japanese Play" features group sex for money while the camera rolls. "The Scavenger Hunt" and "Humming" celebrate lesbian love, the latter affording a healing experience for one partner, her "aging body wracked these days with the storms of menopause." In "Fearful Symmetry" the handicapped male lover has a prosthetic arm. "Cradles of Light" mingles autoerotic enjoyments with memories of the past. Clinical therapist Barbach has written and edited several volumes (including the nonfiction Pleasures: Women Write Erotica designed to help women fulfill their sensual potential. Her introductory comments to this book stress the need for affirmation, tenderness and mystery. Unhappily, many of the stories suffer from awkwardly sentimental and amateurish writing. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternates. Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the book - 21 erotic short stories by women, for women. "In this intense exploration of seduction, romance, and erotic fantasy, Lonnie Barbach has collected 21 tales that stimulate the mind as well-as the .body. These graphic stories, filled with the unexpected and forbidden, brilliantly capture the myriad layers, colors, and visions of every woman's sexuality. These stories - by and about women, young and old, married and single, heterosexual and lesbian - involve mysterious partners, racy games, risqué encounters, and more. The result is a classic work of passion that can be used as a starting point for shared intimacies or as a pleasure experienced alone."

I. Adventure and risk.

-- The private life of Mrs. Herman / Udana Power

-- Love letters / Marilyn Harris Kriegel

-- Strangers in the universe / Signe Hammer

-- Games / Grace Zabriskie

-- An American in Paris / Kim Chernin

-- Berlioz & the ghetto blaster / Valerie Kelly

-- The house of the twin jewels / Gayle Feyrer.

II. Mystery.

-- Birthing / Doraine Poretz

-- Leaving Sasha, or The bed makes the man / Susan Block

-- The scavenger hunt / Nisa Donnelly

-- Blood oranges / Deena Metzger

-- The hunters / Suzanne Miller.

III. The forbidden.

-- Auto erotic / Sharon S. Mayes

-- A long, long time / Carolyn Banks

-- Humming / Sandy Boucher

-- Fearful symmetry / Rebecca Silver

-- A Japanese play / Victoria Starr.

IV. The moment.

-- Cradles of light / Susan Griffin

-- One Florida night / Cucu Lee

-- The woman in love / Tee A. Corinne

-- Twilight fantasy / Jacquie Robb

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 3 reviews  4.3 out of 5 stars