bonkbrown's review
4.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Lesbophobia, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Sexual content, Pedophilia, and Rape
industrialathena's review
4.0
Pat Califia is a perverted literary genius. I don't just mean that she writes about sexy taboos with great skill. She has the will and insight to stare into the face of the our collective psychological abyss and mine it for all its erotic potential. That's no easy feat by any means, but for me what makes Califia a genius is the fact that she is also willing to candidly discuss the political/moral implications of her work and the quest to get off in repressive times. I would like to think that the political landscape has changed for the better since this book was originally published in 1988, but the intro this collection of shorts stories is both a frightening and insightful analysis of the sexual politics landscape at the time.
As for the stories, there is a little bit of everything in this collection: Victoriana, sci-fi/fantasy, girl on girl, guy on guy, hetero, orgies, etc. All of it heavily laced with Dominance/submission and Sadomasochistic themes. Definitely a very hot collection, but honestly the stories are intriguing in their own right even if you aren't looking for erotic thrills.