The Best American Erotica 2005

Let's start by saying tastes in erotica vary. This collection has a little something for everyone. The stories are more consistently sensual than erotic per say. While some of the story lines did nothing for me there are a number of gems here that make the collection well worth the read.

I've read the stories and loved them all, but my favorite one is, "It's never too late in New York," by, Nelson George. I don't want to explain too much, it's such a short story; I might tell it all in one paragraph. But I will say, I was excited to see slang writing, quoted for the characters. This was an urban story, African-American based. This story and all the others were engaging. In the story, I liked the character, Walter's personality. He had a sexy way about him. Walter mentioned to his friend Dwayne, about a girl whose nickname was Medina, a stripper he met in a club. Dwayne reminded Walter both he and him went to the movies with Medina together, in the past; he also reminded Walter of her real name. Dispite Dwayne's jealously towards Walter, in dating Medina, Walter remained cool about it all. Throughout the whole book, these hot, erotic stories were really worth reading. I recommend it.

I don't know if this is a collection of THE best American erotica from the last year (there's a lot of great stuff I find on the web or in traditional print everyday), but it really is an assortment of nothing but the best writers available. I'd been given the book as a gift and was afraid to find what one editor may deem "the best" and put in a random collection. I'd never read anything from the Best American Erotica series before. I was hooked on the very first story and continually amazed that each and every tale, no matter the style, length, author, or subject, was a real turn-on. The stories seem to span the gamut of available writing, and each one has a great deal to offer no matter if it merely alludes to sexual thoughts or describes an incredibly hot and nasty scene of self-debauchery. I have Susie Bright's editing skills to thank for showing me, in one anthology, what it is to be an author of erotica, just how much creative freedom we have, and how to turn our own styles into a turn-on for a diverse audience. I'll be buying each year's collection now, probably collecting the old ones to add to my shelf, and my aim is to be honored as one of the author's selected for print in the coming years.