Fucking Daphne: Mostly True Stories and Fictions [Paperback]

Daphne Gottlieb (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 27, 2008

When Daphne Gottlieb first found herself the character in someone else’s story she was intrigued; over time, as she appeared in more and more stories, she started to wonder about the implications of what was real and what wasn’t. Did it matter that there were published stories of her having sex in bathrooms, vacant parking lots, on the balcony at a party in an old bordello? Did it matter whether or not they were true?

This question sparked the idea for Fucking Daphne, a collection that blurs the lines between reality and fiction and begs the question “who is the real Daphne?” A pill-popping wild child? A soft place to fall with a broken heart? A dreadlocked vixen?

Contributors include Hanne Blank, Stephen Elliot, Sarah Katherine Lewis, and Ariel Gore, who describe, watch, and engage with a character that is not Daphne Gottlieb; Daphne is a projection, a fantasy, a zeitgeist. We are all a multitude of people in bed. We are all Daphne.

Harnessing the playfulness of the hoax, the seductiveness of literature, and the edginess of the avant-garde, Fucking Daphne is unique in a culture hungry for sex, information, and most of all, understanding.

Editorial Reviews

Review

For me, the pleasure of reading fiction is getting lost in someone's detailed and self-sufficient world. Since the stories in Fucking Daphne already have an external framework, they don't need to possess an inner logic. I can't get absorbed in them without constantly thinking of the genesis of the project. This neatly reflects the dominant-submissive relationships expressed in almost every story. Ultimately, Gottlieb is in control, despite her non-committal approach to the truth. In a book that explores the edge between fact and imagination, reality and desire, her authorship is indisputable. -- Donna Blumenfeld, Venus Zine, June 3rd, 2008

I can't tell you the name of Daphne Gottlieb's new book -- it's too anatomical -- but I can link to it right here. It's a collection featuring nearly 30 stories that imagine the San Francisco performance poet and provocatrix in a variety of, er, compromising positions, written by a pretty good crew of West Coast underground literati, including Stephen Elliott, Ariel Gore, Bucky Sinister and Justin Chin.

There's no denying that Gottlieb's on to something with this project -- a postmodern mash-up of truth and illusion that seeks to eclipse the line between how others see us and the way we see ourselves. The book had its genesis when she began to realize that some of her acquaintances were writing dirty stories about her (one appeared in Best American Erotica) that featured "[e]verything about me, it seems, except my underwear and my modesty." Eventually, Gottlieb put out a call for submissions; the result is this book.

I love the blurriness of this idea, the way fantasy and reality blend together until we don't know what's fiction or fact. Yet I'd be lying if I didn't admit to some discomfort -- not because of the sex but because of the narcissism.

Here we have an almost perfect metaphor for the conundrum of contemporary culture, with its look-at-me self-absorption, its sense that the artist is more important than the art.

In the end, that too is what Gottlieb's book speaks to, whatever her intentions are. -- David L. Ulin, LA Times, May 28, 2008

The conceit is a treat: Daphne Gottlieb edits a collection of stories - all about Daphne Gottlieb. A less skilled editor might have corralled less talented contributors - but readers luck out with this nervy anthology, where it's hard to tell which tales are fact and which are fiction. Does it really matter if Bett Williams did or did not have sex with Daphne after they shared a reading stage, as told in "New Friend"? Or if Lori Selke really was seduced at age 20 by Daphne - and a bag of Hershey's chocolate kisses - as revealed in "Kiss and Tell"? Marlo Gayle's story about Daphne marching in a parade dressed as a bondage bunny ("Why Things Hop") is rooted in some truth, as Gottlieb reveals in her introduction. But Justin Chin's imaginative "The Meow" - about what Daphne's cat thinks about Daphne's sexual partners - well, that's fiction, of course; cats aren't people, so they can't write, right? The 29 delightfully smart stories in this erotically playful anthology straddle the real and the imaginary with delectable, delightful zeal. -- Richard Labonte, Book Marks, June 16th, 2008

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Seal Press (May 27, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580052355
• ISBN-13: 978-1580052351
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,563,821 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't pay any attention to what they write about you. Just measure it in inches.-Andy Warhol, July 8, 2008

By 

Cherise Everhard (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fucking Daphne: Mostly True Stories and Fictions (Paperback)

As I understand it this anthology was put together after Daphne discovered herself starring in someone else's story in a book called Best American Erotica. As she states in the foreword of this book "In some story, some girl with my name is doing nasty things to some boy and the whole world can read it. With one hand, if they want." How can you not be intrigued by that statement? So she gathered a group of 29 writers and let them each tell their 'story' in this a kiss and tell book all about Daphne.

With 29 authors, 29 stories and only 260 pages, that makes some of these stories extremely short in length, but I didn't find any of them lacking. Like in most anthologies there were stories that I enjoyed far more than others, but on a whole I thought this collections was pretty darn good.

This book touches on many different subjects along with various sexcapades about hers truly. From graveyard romps, school girl sexual exploration/experimentation, strippers, bondage bunnies, lesbian and straight sex, there is no shortage of content. I found myself amazed at the uniqueness of each tale; each story contained a different Daphne. While there were always some similarities in her appearance each author managed to bring a little something more to the personality of the Daphne they wrote about.

A small sample of my favorites:

Dear Rachel, Please Read by Bucky Sinister - a humorous story told in the form of a letter from a man to his girlfriend - explaining in detail all the rumors she heard about him shagging Daphne were untrue.

The Meow by Justin Chin - a Daphne tale told to us by her cat, Moshpit. I though it was a clever story about how he protects her and guards her dreams.

What Daphne Thinks About In Bed by T.R. Moss - A story that centers on Daphne's solo lovin' and the fantasies she conjures in the process.

This isn't a book I could sit down and read from cover to cover, it is something that I picked up now and then and read a few stories at a time. There was maybe only one story I didn't care for out of the entire collection, the rest I either liked or really liked. It was interesting, to say the least, and while I am not sure how I stumbled upon this book, I am glad that I did. Daphne and her writer pals have created a very distinctive and pleasurable read.

Cherise Everhard, July 2008

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting reading., January 31, 2010

By 

Clint Dellinger (YUKON, OK, US) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fucking Daphne: Mostly True Stories and Fictions (Paperback)

This book is not what the title implies. I had heard of Daphne and saw this book so I thought what the hell. This is a very deep book. It takes a look at not only the sex life, but the life of a writer. Very interesting ART, not Smut. If you are looking for graphic sex, this is not the book. If you are looking to be entertained and fascinated by a very fascinating woman; this is your book.