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22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Generally unsatisfying..., November 27, 2005
This review is from: The Best American Erotica 2005 (Paperback)
Of course I recognize that a sense of the erotic is a very individual taste. However, when an anthology self asserts that it is the "best" American erotica then delivers like this, I find myself longing to shop in Europe.
I'll acknowledge these short vignettes are masterfully written...murals of metaphor and simile. But one expects that erotica would appeal to more than one's appreciation of literature. One expects that erotica would stir regions a bit farther below one's cerebral cortex.
I find little of that here. Many of the stories are poignant clips of human interaction with precious little erotica to be found. Generally good short stories with a bit more nudity and profanity than one might encounter at the public library.
These stories often succeed in stirring emotion if not the libido. I find I am repulsed by the celebration of just how base human nature can be portrayed. It's as if Ms Bright's idea of the erotic is directly linked to the degree of perversity, pain, and meanness illustrated. For example, there is one story that illustrates the destruction of a man and his family at the hands of a narcissistic drug addict. Please explain how this sad story is considered erotica?
At first, I believed my disappointment was rooted in my "maleness"...that perhaps these stories were written to appeal to women. My wife has also read them. She thinks it's more like watching the freak show at the circus...plenty to gawk at, but nothing you'd want to touch.
I've seen this general trend in erotica in other anthologies as well. If this is the direction it is headed, then perhaps we just need to start renaming the series "The Best Short Stories with Naked Bodies and Profanity"
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13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Truly the Best, March 28, 2005
This review is from: The Best American Erotica 2005 (Paperback)
I don't know if this is a collection of THE best American erotica from the last year (there's a lot of great stuff I find on the web or in traditional print everyday), but it really is an assortment of nothing but the best writers available.
I'd been given the book as a gift and was afraid to find what one editor may deem "the best" and put in a random collection. I'd never read anything from the Best American Erotica series before. I was hooked on the very first story and continually amazed that each and every tale, no matter the style, length, author, or subject, was a real turn-on.
The stories seem to span the gamut of available writing, and each one has a great deal to offer no matter if it merely alludes to sexual thoughts or describes an incredibly hot and nasty scene of self-debauchery. I have Susie Bright's editing skills to thank for showing me, in one anthology, what it is to be an author of erotica, just how much creative freedom we have, and how to turn our own styles into a turn-on for a diverse audience.
I'll be buying each year's collection now, probably collecting the old ones to add to my shelf, and my aim is to be honored as one of the author's selected for print in the coming years.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A little something for just about anyone., February 25, 2006
This review is from: The Best American Erotica 2005 (Paperback)
Let's start by saying tastes in erotica vary. This collection has a little something for everyone. The stories are more consistently sensual than erotic per say. While some of the story lines did nothing for me there are a number of gems here that make the collection well worth the read.
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