Intimacy [Paperback]

Robert Fleming (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 27, 2004

In this follow-up to the award-winning After Hours, editor Robert Fleming brings together another collection of erotic stories written by today's best black male writers.

Intimacy is a collection of erotica for couples that is an intoxicating romp through wild fantasies and sexual obsession and also a meditation on the vulnerability and security of those in a deeply involved and committed relationships. Exploring a wide variety of themes-the cycles of love and courtship, sexual secrets, adultery-this collection represents a broad spectrum of the African American experience. With contributions from award-winning authors, established writers, and the notable new voices, Intimacy is a powerfully seductive take on love and marriage from a truly unique perspective.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Inventive conceits dominate in Fleming's second collection of erotic stories (after 2002's After Hours) by African-American writers both new and established. Sexual frustration proves to be a nice point of entry for sci-fi writer Stephen Barnes in "Jet Lag," as a writer's busy schedule and a visiting mother-in-law keep the flames of love in check until a final, explosive release. Kinky sex takes center stage in Reginald Brown's "Almond Eyes," a cautionary tale about a young man whose hot, older and erotically adventurous girlfriend might be sucking the life out of him. In Gary Earl Ross's "Lucky She's Mine," a criminologist rescues and marries a battered woman, only to be stalked by her ex after he gets out of prison, while in "Forty-five Is Not So Old," Kalamu ya Salaam presents the sad dilemma of a middle-aged woman lamenting her husband's lack of desire for her even as he lies in a hotel with his mistress. Cecil Brown provides a cheeky moment of comic relief in an excerpt from his novel Days Without Weather, "A Fan's Love," in which a woman seduces a comedian after his show, and demands good loving and good jokes to spur her to a stirring climax. Despite the occasional clunker, and the lack of a couple of longer, more complex stories to balance the quick-hit situational material, Fleming has assembled another volume that's sure to please.
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About the Author

Robert Fleming has written for Essence, Black Enterprise, The Source, and The New York Times, among others. A former award-winning reporter for the New York Daily News, he is the author of The African American Writer's Handbook and The Wisdom of the Elders. His work was featured in Brown Sugar and he was the editor of After Hours (both from Plume).

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Plume (January 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452284740
• ISBN-13: 978-0452284746
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,792,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get INTIMATE with this book, February 24, 2004

By 

TNC Reviews (Lake Charles, LA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Intimacy (Paperback)

"Intimacy: Erotic Stories of Love, Lust, and Marriage by Black Men" is a collection you have to pick up. I was a fan of "After Hours," but INTIMACY raises the bar HIGH with stories that will arouse you and that will make you stop and think. What impresses me the most is that these stories have sustenance. These are stories that yes, will make you hot, but they will also draw you into the worlds of the characters. You'll get to see what they want (other than sex), you'll get to see fully-fleshed out characters with lives who want to make their lives "complete" by adding that intimate component, whether it's lust, love, or marriage (or any of the many nuances that fall under intimacy). My suggestion for you all is to buy this book and keep it on your nightstand for about a month, reading a story each night before bed. If your libido isn't on full thrum at the end of this tantalizing journey, you may want to go and have yourself checked out.

Shon Bacon

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Collection, January 27, 2004

By 

Mahogany Book Club "Mahogany Media Review" (Albany, N.Y.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Intimacy (Paperback)

Intimacy is the follow up to After Hours also edited by Robert Fleming. Intimacy goes deeper than After Hours. The stories are of love, Intimacy, lust,dating, being single, cheating and the bonds of marriage. There are 23 stories in all from established and upcoming new writers. Writers featured in this collection include: James Alan McPherson,John Edgar Wideman, Al Young, Cecil Brown, Stephen Barnes, E. Ethelbert Miller, Edwardo Jackson, Sekou Writes, Kenji Jasper, David Anthony Durham,C.Kelly Robinson, Cole Riley, Robert Scott Adams, Reginald Harris, Michael T. Owens, Mitchell Jackson, Gary Earl Ross, Kalamu ya Salaam, Phil Duck, Brian Egeston, Jermal K. Yarbrough, Try Ellis, Christopher Chambers. This is another wonderful collection of erotic writing by black men. The second of which i hope to be a long line of collections to come. Each story is deep, personal and well written. I enjoyed the stories and the intimacy that seeped into the pages from each of these fine writers.

After Hours won The Mahogany Best Erotic Fiction Award 2003.
An early guess is this second collection will take home 2004.I'm pulling for it.. I highly recommend.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not great, but not bad, January 29, 2004

By 

Jennifer H (St Davids, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Intimacy (Paperback)

I got ahold of a copy through a friend at a local alternative weekly. I collect collections; haven't read "After Hours" but have seen reviews and I know Robert Fleming puts out a great product. However, aside from the creative/departure from the norm stories by S. Barnes, Ross, C. Chambers and maybe three or four others, and the humorous strands by another group, I really don't see why this collection collects the raves it has so far. The line between erotic literature and pulp fiction can be a thin line. Luckily, "Intimacy" stays over that line into erotic lit., but not by much.