Sunday 19 August 2012

Better erotica

Everyone is talking about that book, I haven't read it because life is too short (and have read enough appalled bloggers quoting it to feel like I have read it anyway.)

When I worked in the bookshop anyone purchasing something from the 'adult' shelf would be sure to buy two other books about something innocuous, that they could sandwich their saucy book between when paying at the counter. I think the success of Fifty Shades of Grey is down to a perfect storm of technology (Kindle) removing the embarrassment factor, and good marketing.

People are despairing of its success, but I think the ones reading it are people who do not usually read books, so they are not judging it in a literary way.

I wish there was better erotica though. I don't mean the genre ones - I think there's something a bit silly in the idea of a book whose sole object is to make you feel frisky.  It's the same reason I can't take porn seriously - there's no STORY, and no characters. No plot.  I can only think of a couple of writers who write sex scenes well - one is Anais Nin, and the other is an American author I read when working at the publishers, Louise Redd, who wrote an excellent book called Playing the Bones.

Do you have any recommendations of good authors to go on the Adult shelf?


10 comments:

  1. The letters page in Razzle is pretty good.

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  2. I had to look it up on Wikipedia.

    "The razzle stack is a term used to describe the way ladies were stacked four high, normally with a pint of Guinness rested to the side.

    You learn something new every day.

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  3. You could write some yourself. With pictures. Filthy pictures.

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  4. Tim, did I never tell you about 10 Shades of Vanilla?

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  5. Bah. You are all useless.

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  6. Am actually currently editing a job load of genre erotica and much of it is good.

    The Butcher by Alina Reyes? All those one hundred strokes of the Catherine M books? I've either edited them or reviewed them. I should be able to think of more. Eat Me by Linda Jaivin. The Bride Stripped Bare. Gordon, by Edith Templeton (NOT vanilla).

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  7. Some people, mostly men I assume, find Michel Houellebecq somewhat stimulating. Not I.

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  8. I think I write some pretty good stuff, but I'm not a fan of erotica in general.

    I didn't get into erotica until I started writing it, and then it was as fantasies meant to be shared and played out... sort of secret life between lovers sort of thing.

    I haven't read "that" book, either... although I'm glad it was written. It paves the way for more reading of all types (like the Harry Potter books), and also opens up interesting conversations about sex, love and romance, and how they all come together.

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  9. B, I forgot we had an expert in the house. Editing erotic fiction, fab. I dare you to change all the references to his manly bits to 'joystick'.

    Had forgotten I'd read the 100 strokes book, she was an annoying narrator. And Eat Me, but can't really remember it. I haven't read the others, good tip.

    I don't like old Michel,GSE, he's too misanthropic for me.

    Hello NookieNotes, I like your website.
    I think that you're absolutely right. I like how giggly people at work get when they're talking about it.

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  10. Try books in the Black Lace catalogue - erotic fiction written for women, by women. Now owned by Virgin books who, in their unerring sense of timing, decided to stop commissioning anything new...

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