Zaftig: Well Rounded Erotica (Paperback)

by Hanne Blank (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Though only two syllables long, zaftig has a certain voluptuousness about it, much like a dollop of chocolate. Derived from Yiddish, it means "juicy." Organized in response to America's ongoing obsession with bony slimness, this collection of 18 tales celebrates the love handle, the stretch mark, the double chin, and the double-D cup in other words, the plus-size woman (straight and gay) as well as what Blank (editor, Big, Big Love: A Sourcebook on Sex for People of Size and Those Who Love Them) calls "the liberatory power of sex." Erotica, regardless of its focus, should spark the libido, but the selections here are often too obvious in their come-ons and cringingly girl-power-political. In Eleanor Brown's "Breathing Lessons," for example, a woman's cathartic love-making session is spliced with vignettes of her as a self-loathing chubby girl: "Our mothers' eyes are joyless as they surrender their credit cards to clothe their fat daughters." And so on. Though it raises some excellent questions about femininity and sexuality, Zaftig isn't as juicy as it should be. For larger erotica or gay/lesbian collections only. Heather McCormack, "Library Journal"
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Though only two syllables long, zaftig has a certain voluptuousness about it, much like a dollop of chocolate. Derived from Yiddish, it means "juicy." Organized in response to America's ongoing obsession with bony slimness, this collection of 18 tales celebrates the love handle, the stretch mark, the double chin, and the double-D cup in other words, the plus-size woman (straight and gay) as well as what Blank (editor, Big, Big Love: A Sourcebook on Sex for People of Size and Those Who Love Them) calls "the liberatory power of sex." Erotica, regardless of its focus, should spark the libido, but the selections here are often too obvious in their come-ons and cringingly girl-power-political. In Eleanor Brown's "Breathing Lessons," for example, a woman's cathartic love-making session is spliced with vignettes of her as a self-loathing chubby girl: "Our mothers' eyes are joyless as they surrender their credit cards to clothe their fat daughters." And so on. Though it raises some excellent questions about femininity and sexuality, Zaftig isn't as juicy as it should be. For larger erotica or gay/lesbian collections only. Heather McCormack,"Library Journal"

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Cleis Press; 1 edition (June 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573441228
• ISBN-13: 978-1573441223
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,085,814 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars four brillant pieces; good quality otherwise, May 21, 2003

By	TammyJo Eckhart "TammyJo Eckhart" (Bloomington, Indiana United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

If you get this book be careful: if you think that erotica is only hot sex, then you may be disappointed. Here, and in much of the erotica I like personally, erotica also means literature where sex and sexuality play an important role in characters' lives. This is a collection of stories about larger people who battle the social idea of "thin is sexy" and the people who empower or challenge them. There is plenty of hot scenes here for het and lesbians (I'd say it was about 50/50), nothing really for gay men however. Most of the characters are larger women with the men usually not described. The quality of the pieces varies but four were my favorite for their uniqueness and power to draw me into the tale. These were pieces by Catherine Lundoff,Eleanor Brown, Veronica Kelly, and Diana Lee (two lesbiand and two het piece by the way).

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars YUMMMMM, February 2, 2002

By	Todd Hawley (San Francisco CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This collection of stories celebrates the rich lustiness of larger women, and in a couple of cases, larger men. It's one of the few erotica collections that makes it loud and clear that large women are sexy too. As I read some of these stories, I imagined myself as being the lucky person to be with some of the gorgeous creatures described in these stories.

As far as there not being enough so-called "straight" stories, well I'm sorry but a collection of "all het" stories would be boring. Thank goodness Hanne chose all spectrums of sexuality, not just a narrow band. And heck, seems to me there were enough "het stories" here to satisfy most people. And I certainly don't mind the "girl-girl" stories by any means, but that probably has something to do with my being one of those dreaded "straight males."

Hooray to Hanne Blank for an anthology that proves large women are desireable and darn sexy.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring and Fulfilling, but Unarousing, July 10, 2002

By	John M. Herron "Erica Herron" (Sharpsburg, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I commend the book for pioneering a new section of the genre of erotica. I definitely found several real gems in the book that made it worth 10 times it's buying price, like "Breathing Lessons," and "Flesh Love," real works of absolute art. I've read them over and over and over, particularly "Breathing Lessons", which makes me cry every time. But I didn't find these two particularly erotic.
On the negative side, I didn't really feel like it focused on the desires of the average reader. This wouldn't have bothered me so much, except that since this is the only book that I know of that focuses on the zaftig figure, so I would have hoped for something that was perhaps a little less broad in it's ambitions. At times it even sort of felt like a compilation of obscure fetishes, like in the story "How Loretta Got a Schlong" - weird, not exotic, not quirky, not on the edge, just weird. There were several of those, like sex with a very old man, or masturbating with an idol which then becomes a fat gay man who then has sex with his male lover and then turns into a woman. It also felt as if most of them focused on butch lesbians - which had their place to be certain, but it really felt like they were the spot light. All of these would have been fine in a book several times it's length.
Overall, this is absolutely worth purchasing, but I wouldn't really plan on being aroused, it's just a really good read. You'll find maybe one or two that make you breathe heavily or move your soul, and they really are absolutely worth it. I'll be the first to buy a sequel if it comes out! Really, honest to goodness worth the money.