The Best American Erotica 1997

As Susie Bright points out elsewhere, the question "What's the difference between erotica and porn?" is far less important than asking "Why do we keep so silent about sexuality and sexual experience?" The schizophrenic approach of American culture to sexuality--both saturating mass media with tantalizing suggestions of sex and at the same time forbidding, limiting, and condemning it--gives birth to this question in the first place. The line which gets drawn between pornography and erotica seems to be a line between "high" and "low" culture, between bourgeois expressions of sexuality and proletarian. I draw a line between writing, no matter how sexual or explicit, that tells a good story, that challenges my mind and emotions, that reveals character and gives me a new window on human nature (and thus myself); and writing that falls short of this standard. For me, most stories in this collection fall into the first category. Some had me turning pages, wondering what might happen next, others, like trying to catch on to a folk-tune, offered little challenge to the imagination. The story settings ranged from "normal" twentieth century western culture to cyber-punk, swords-and-sorcery, and mythic. I found most characters interesting and compelling, even when involved in sexual activities that seemed to hold no appeal to me at all. But that, perhaps, is a misstatement--the erotic intensity of the stories, was always appealing, even when it lay significantly outside the bounds of what I think I would like to experience. One story actually turned my stomach a bit, but it was so compelling, I had to finish it. Once I did, I was glad to _HAVE_ read it. This is the second book in the series I have read. Compared with THE BEST AMERICAN EROTICA OF 2001, this book is harder core, farther out, more cutting edge. The 2001 book is softer, gentler, more "normal." I loved both of them, but wonder if the nature of erotica has (d)evolved so much over four years, or if Susie Bright has shifted that much.Highly recommended, especially for those who would like to expand their erotic horizons from the safety of their own homes. Daring. Stimulating. Powerful. Earns every one of five stars....

This collection has something for everyone. Some of its stories are pure "brain candy." Yet most of the stories go beyond erotica: this is really imaginative literature! I especially like one story about a cancer victim...weird with a great narrator look at his strange girlfriend. I can't remember the name or title and I can't look it up since a friend of mine, to whom I loaned the book, has been enjoying it for some time. (I last noticed it by her bathtub.) :)