Dying For It

In most anthologies, there are some stories that I really enjoy, others that I hate, and still others that I'm lukewarm about. This was one of those rare anthologies that I thorougly enjoyed every story in. Despite the word "erotic" in the title, the emphasis wasn't on sex (the reason a more conservative friend of mine rejected reading it). True, sex figures to some extent in all the stories, but love and death also figure prominently, and the overall theme that emerged for me was the importance of celebrating the former two elements, because the latter is always lurking in the background.In particular, I found Andy Duncan's "Saved" to be extremely affecting. For those of you who thought the love story in the movie _Titanic_ was cheesy and overdone, this Titanic love story is moving and powerful. In fact, one of the reasons I hated the movie may have been because I'd read this story first and found that the syrupy story in the movie just couldn't compare.