Customer Reviews

Hotter Than Hell: and Other Stories

5 star:		(4)
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I read a whole lot of erotica, and Simon Sheppard's is some of the best I've found. It's brainy as well as very sexy, entertaining, and sometimes touching. His stories touch on everything from gay history to Hinduism, yet never lose their focus on queer desire. I first ran across his work in one year's Best Gay Erotica collection, and that story is in Hotter Than Hell, as well as pieces that have appeared in the Best American Erotica series.(He's in this year's editions of the "Best" books, too.)

Everyone's entitled to an opinion, of course, but I guess the bashing critic from Pennsylvania would rather be reading mindless stroke stories than genuinely excellent storytelling. Oh well--my judgements are shared by such topflight writer/editors as Felice Picano and Susie Bright, so I feel comfortable in saying that Sheppard writes great, sexy stuff, well worth a read.

How can something this dirty be so brainy? That is the gauntlet laid down by self professed "smut hound" Simon Sheppard in this collection of his own works. Don't be surprised if you remember reading a few of these in old and long lost magazines of yore, Mr. Sheppard has contributed to some of the best. That his stories were memorable enough to rekindle some of my archived and plastered over memories of late night solo reading is testament to how powerful many of these stories are.

Multilayered, multicultural and even multigenerational (the great "Queer Studies"), Mr. Sheppard will delight your private parts and your frontal lobes. This isn't just "Hotter Than Hell," it's cooler than (fill in adjective here).

I've had the privilege to work and perform with Simon Sheppard many times, and his short stories are unquestionably among the best erotica being written today. This book collects some of his strongest work -- it's truly amazing. Buy it.

Every story in this collection delivers. If you're looking for great male/male eroticism you won't want to miss this book. Lots of passion, insight, lust, humor--you name it. These stories will stay with you. They are hot.