Brown Sugar: A Collection of Erotic Black Fiction (v. 1) [Paperback]

Carol Taylor (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2, 2001

Silk sheets...jazz playing softly in the background. The many moods of Eros are explored in this rich and diverse array of black erotica, written especially for this Plume collection.

Brown Sugar brings together some of the most acclaimed voices in today's black literary world-Sapphire, Natasha Tarpley, Reginald Harris, and Pamela Sneed, among them. These titillating stories cover the full spectrum of black experience and identity as they reveal sexuality and sensuality in all their varied and exotic forms. From the subtle to the graphic, Brown Sugar embraces the ardor and passion of black love and lust, and will appeal to both men and women. Featuring both well-established authors and promising new writers, this one-of-a-kind collection represents the past, present, and future of black literature at its pleasurable and outrageous best.

It is a must-have for every lover, as well as every lover of first-rate fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"In Brown Sugar we're here to represent, to show the real souls of black folk, our own particular ardor and passion." So writes Taylor, a longtime publishing professional and coauthor of Sacred Fire: The QBR 100 Essential Black Books, in her introduction to this stylish anthology of original black erotica. Nineteen authors (including Taylor) contribute stories; none are literary superstars and many are relatively obscure, but a few will be familiar to readers of Af-Am lit, particularly novelist R.M. Johnson (The Harris Men) and poet Sapphire (American Dreams; Push). The stories span the spectrum of sexuality, from straight (the majority) to gay (Reginald Harris's "The Dream"; Pamela Sneed's poem, "Peeping Tom") to gender-bending (Marcia Blackman's "Hail Mary Full of Grace"; Leone Ross's "Drag," whose 18-year-old narrator announces, "Today I feel like a drag queen," and proceeds to pick up a man outside a porn shop and ask him to have sex with her "like I'm a boy"), with a smidgen of S&M tossed in. None of the entries are pornographic, though graphic depictions of sex abound. The best of the stories, like Diane Patrick's "Never Say Never," explore the emotional as well as sexual aspects of the erotic; in this lively tale that blends humor and high spirits with genuine warmth, Patrick blind-dates a shorter (white) man and in so doing learns more about her own humanity. Just so, readers may learn more about themselves as they explore the erotic imaginations at work in this book, not the first collection of black erotica (e.g., Reginald Martin's Dark Eros, 1997) but one that is particularly intelligent, varied--and sexy. (Jan.)Forecast: This title can be niche-marketed to success, but the infusion of graphic gay material into a book that appeals primarily to heterosexual sensibilities may prove a problem.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Carol Taylor is a former book editor now working as a freelance editor and writer. She co-edited and contributed to Sacred Fire: The QBR 100 Essential Black Books.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Plume; Gift Inscription on Fep edition (January 2, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452282241
• ISBN-13: 978-0452282247
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #598,727 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Flame Thrower, January 27, 2001

By 

A. Lewis (From Spokane via New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brown Sugar: A Collection of Erotic Black Fiction (v. 1) (Paperback)

This book throws caution to the wind. It is very hot. My favorite stories are "Drag," "Hail Mary Full of Grace," "Nadine's Husband," "Deecy and Pheo," and believe it or not you have got to read the introduction by the editor which kind of surprises you it is so sexy. I think the introduction is a story too, or it may be real. Anyway it is very good, sexy writing, just like the rest of the book.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brown Sugar: A Collection of Erotic Black Fiction, January 3, 2001

By 

Lee Kline (Miami) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brown Sugar: A Collection of Erotic Black Fiction (v. 1) (Paperback)

A good book that has been a long time coming. What a stroke of smarts Carol Taylor had when she decided to include some younger, need-to-be-read writers. Here's an opportunity to read the best of the new. The story, Nadine's Husband is worth the price alone. Inclusion of that story's author, Preston Allen, gives the collection real credibility as serious work.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is HOT HOT HOT!, January 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Brown Sugar: A Collection of Erotic Black Fiction (v. 1) (Paperback)

If you only read one book this year, this is the one for you! Not for the faint of heart, Brown Sugar reveals the steaming passion of black desire, sex, lust and love that COMES correct!