Aqua Erotica: 18 Stories for a Steamy Bath [Paperback]

Mary Anne Mohanraj (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 22, 2000

Imagine a hot tub party where a married couple tests the boundaries of fidelity. A model who finds herself unaccountably aroused as she poses for a watercolor artist. A pool of water on a desert road and two lovers who know how to make the most of it. This is Aqua Erotica, a sensuous tasting of desire's liquid, ecstatic other worlds.

Aqua Erotica is a siren's song, a book so unforgettably sexy that you will want to take it with you to the bath, the sauna, the night-lit pool.

What's amazing is that you can.

The first-ever waterproof book for adults. The most seductive collection of original literary erotica ever gathered under one cover.

Aqua Erotica is a book that quite literally goes places you never imagined books could go. Featuring today's boldest erotic voices:

Francesca Lia Block
Poppy Z. Brite
Louise Erdrich
Carol Queen
Marcy Sheiner
Cecilia Tan
Barry Yourgrau
and many others --

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Hot and wet -- also extremely well crafted." -- Kirkus Reviews - July 1, 2000

From the Publisher

From the editor's introduction:

"When I was first asked to do this anthology, it sounded like great fun -- reading erotic stories with a watery element, selecting the best to create a book that you could enjoy in the tub, at the beach -- while immersed in water yourself. And of course, I expected a veritable flood of stories to consider; water was so obviously a natural subject for erotica. Water is inherently sexy: it can be gentle, warm, delicious. I anticipated the incoming stories with nervous excitement.

I did receive many wonderful stories -- but their nature surprised me. I had expected the collection to be full of light stories, delightful little erotic tales -- cheerful, like a bubbling spring. There are certainly more than a few of those in this book. Mary Maxwell's "I Want" gives us a pool of water in the desert and two lovers who know how to enjoy it; Diane Kepler's "Hydrodynamica" is a tale of a student who is having a very difficult time studying her fluid dynamics; Kris Hawes gives us a teasing woman and her partner (who must choose between basketball and a steamy shower) in "Velvet Glove," and Thomas Roche's poor artist's model writhes delightfully on her couch in "Watercolor." These stories are rich, heartfelt, often complex, and I'm pleased to be able to share them with you; their playfulness is seductive and sexy. But not all the stories are so light-hearted.

There were dark currents in many of the stories I received. Love and lust, certainly -- but also pain and betrayal, deaths by drowning. Some of the stories were so painful that they moved me to tears as I read them. Bill Burkett's "Addiction" tells the story of a man trapped by his own desires, struggling to escape them; "Movements," by Michael Hemmingson, chronicles what may be the end, or new beginning, of a marriage, and the lengths to which a man will go to save it. A few stories pushed even further -- Simon Sheppard's "In Deep" is a story which explores the boundaries of consent, loss of control, and the desire for sexual oblivion; it terrified me even as it fascinated..."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; 1 edition (August 22, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609806564
• ISBN-13: 978-0609806562
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #631,937 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mary Anne Mohanraj received her Ph.D. from the University of Utah, specializing in post-colonial literature and creative writing. She is the author of several books, including her dissertation novel, BODIES IN MOTION, an exploration of sexuality, marriage, and Sri Lankan/American immigrant concerns. Her academic research includes an exploration of black masculinity in the work of horror writer Tananarive Due, and an bio-bibliography on Due published in Richard Bleiler's SUPERNATURAL FICTION WRITERS. She currently serves as a referee for FOUNDATION, THE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF SCIENCE FICTION, and as Director of both the SPECULATIVE LITERATURE FOUNDATION (www.speculativeliterature.org) and of DESILIT (www.desilit.org). Mohanraj has recently received an Illinois Arts Council fellowship, a Neff fellowship in English, a Steffenson-Canon fellowship in the Humanities, and the Scowcroft Prize for Fiction. She lives in Chicago and is currently writing a follow-up novel to BODIES IN MOTION, tentatively titled THE ARRANGEMENT.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good and wet collection, January 28, 2001

By 

"graini" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aqua Erotica: 18 Stories for a Steamy Bath (Paperback)

Sex. Water. Jim Beam. These are things that bring me great pleasure. All three at once equal ecstasy or something close to it. So when I tumbled upon Aqua Erotica of course I had to read it in the tub with my drink in hand. Monhanraj has compiled a collection of 18 stories involving sex and water. Sometimes sex is the driving force, other times it's the water. Horror writer Poppy Z. Brite's contribution, "Nothing of Him That Doth Fade" is the highlight of the book. She creates a love story between two men set in a tragic ocean scene. This story is so rich in its character development and flow that it feels like so much more than a short story. The sexiest story in the collection is "I Want" by Mary Maxwell, which takes place on a desert road with two women and a jug of water. Another brilliant story is Cecelia Tan's version of "The Little Mermaid" in which she tells how it probably really went down, all slippery and wet. Thankfully all sexual orientations are represented in Aqua Erotica, though of course the focus is on hetro sex. Still the stories are hot, even if a few are conventional at times. I have to mention that many of the stories reminded me of the classic water-sex-death story "A Woman in the Dunes" by Anais Nin. So much so in fact that I had to go pull if off my shelf and reread it. Unfortunately, Monhanraj didn't include this in her collection, but I would highly recommend finding and reading "A Woman in the Dunes" with Aqua Erotica, they just fit. Oh, and the most important thing about this book. It's waterproof so you can get it wet with any substance you desire and just wipe it away...how cool.

30 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The bathtub just became a lot more fun, September 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Aqua Erotica: 18 Stories for a Steamy Bath (Paperback)

Finally! Finally I can read while taking a bubble bath, and not worry about getting the book wet! That alone is worth the price.

Aqua Erotica is a sexy collection of well-written stories. Recommended to anyone who likes good quality erotica. There's a wide variety of moods, sexual orientations, and styles represented in these stories, but all are unusually creative and interesting for a book of erotica. Plus, they're hot.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Everything is better when it's VERY WET!, October 20, 2004

By 

girldiver "Enjoy!" (tangled up in blue.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aqua Erotica: 18 Stories for a Steamy Bath (Paperback)

I enjoyed this anthology of erotic stories. Of course, not every story was my cup of tea which is why I only gave it four stars.

This anthology is visually exciting and sensually diverse. Contained between these pages are sexual situations from all walks of life. Therefore, if you are not sexually open-minded you might want to skip this book.

What really intrigued me was the deep emotional element with in the characters of the short stories. This certainly wasn't just an anthology describing intense sexual situations but more emotional journeys incorporated in sexual situations. I was surprised by some of the endings of the stories and the wonderful writing by various authors.

Another plus to this book was that it is water proof. So read it in the bath, pool, hot tub, or even in the rain! Heck, read it outloud during an adult game of slip-n-slide!

girldiver:)