It is the dead of winter — the perfect season to spend an afternoon curled up with a good book. And the term “reading for pleasure” takes on a whole new meaning with “The Best American Erotica 2003: 10th Anniversary Edition.”
While the 348-page volume is a virtual treasure trove for the senses, the content may cause readers who aren’t familiar with the genre (like me) to blush — the stories are colorful and well-written.
The sections readers might label as pure smut are so only because that’s exactly what their authors intended them to be. They are guilty-pleasure selections the reader will remember later — recalled snippets sure to elicit secretive grins in public.
The book, edited by well-known erotica and sexuality author Susie Bright, contains works from new authors as well as old pros, including Susanna Kaysen, the author of “Girl, Interrupted,” and an engaging section from Chuck Palahniuk’s novel, “Choke.” The writing ranges from subtly titillating to full-on nasty. From heterosexual to homosexual to anywhere in between, “The Best American Erotica” serves up smorgasbord of sex — there is literally something for everyone.
The volume’s most surprising story is Susan Volchok’s “How We Did It,” a selection notable more for its infusion of tenderness and vulnerability than its graphic scenes. Beneath the folds of Volchok’s descriptive words describing a lengthy affair lie profound, universal truths about love. Her work is a tingling combination of romance and sexiness.
Bright also included interviews with several prominent erotica authors, including their favorite leisure activities (reading and having sex took first place) as well as how their families react to their work. The authors’ answers reveal that sex writers aren’t perverts locked in closets, but rather “normal” everyday people. After all, there is nothing strange about enjoying sex.
Thus, we arrive at the most redeeming quality of “The Best American Erotica”: Amidst the carnival of strange positions and echoing moans, there’s a universal human connection that even the most prudish reader must recognize.
Recommended with a sly grin, get your own copy at bookstores
in February.