"No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting."
-- Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1753)
Mind Caviar, Vol. 3 Anniversary Issue, 2002
These are writers who have been excelling at their craft for more than a decade, in some cases even longer. Jack Fritscher, Felice Picano, Patrick Califia-Rice, Jesse Grant, RJ March, Simon Sheppard, Thomas S. Roche and the book’s editor M. Christian, round out the men’s side. While Laura Antoniou, Leslea Newman, Cecilia Tan, Carol Queen, Lucy Taylor, and Shar Rednour, the women’s side. I have read tons of erotic fiction in my career and the sheer eroticism of most of the stories included in this collection blew me away. In particular, Picano’s Going Too Far, Fritscher’s Wild Blue Yonder, Sheppard’s My Possession, and Cailifia-Rice’s Chapter One from her upcoming novel The Code. This
is the kind of book that gets less attention than it deserves in the literary
marketplace, but it’s a wealth of insights into a very emotionally complex
genre and provides some satisfying reading. I highly recommend it.
Rachel Kramer Bussel’s "Two Guys, A Girl, and a Porno Movie" is a story that realistically captures the keen desire for bisexual experiences that don’t always come to fruition as one might prefer. TruDeviant’s "Midstream" is a succinct and satisfying account of a gay man’s unexpected anal encounter with a woman. And Karen T. Taylor writes a very winning story about the allure of transgender sex in "Wanting That Man". This is a top-notch book that explores aspects of bisexuality you might never have considered; stories that are told with flare, enthusiasm and compassion. If you’re bisexual, hot for someone who’s bisexual, or wish you were bisexual, then this is a great book to go to bed with. A Comparative Review of Two Novels Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl by Tracy Quan (Crown Publishers, ISBN: 0-609-60724-3, $22.00) and Vertical Intercourse by Paul Reed (Black Books, ISBN: 1-892723-06-9, $16.00) are not what you would call erotic novels. They do, however, deal extensively with the erotic lives of their protagonists. There are odd similarities in the structures of these two books, the primary one being that much of each novel’s story lines include detailed conversations with therapists. Weird, huh? Yet, particularly in Vertical Intercourse, it’s handled in a very engaging way. And I don’t happen to be a big fan of therapy. Die-hard fans of erotic fiction will probably be uncomfortable with the lack of erotic explicitness in Quan’s novel, and with the sometimes depressingly mercenary approach to male heterosexuals. But over all, it’s a well-written account of a New York City call girl’s daily life, as she tries to balance her career with her engagement to a young man who’s oblivious to her secret life. There are a lot of good-natured moments in the book and the characters are exceptionally well crafted and believable. Reed’s Vertical Intercourse has much more erotic detailing, on the whole, but it’s a very serious look at how gay men adjust to aging in modern-day San Francisco, and how they cope with the heavy burden of living side-by-side with AIDS on a daily basis. This is the first offering in Black Books’ San Francisco Author’s Series and Reed’s third novel. I found it a wonderful, if often sad, novel that was hard to put down. The
protagonist, a 40-year-old gay HIV+ male, is instantly likable. It’s simultaneously
comforting and overwhelming to discover how he adjusts to loss, uncertainty,
and disease in his own life and the lives of all of the men and women who
are close to him. It presents a narrative of hope that seamlessly incorporates
sexual desire and intimate fulfillment even in the constant presence of
HIV and AIDS.
In Memoriam of Paul Reed Mind
Caviar regrets to inform our readers that Paul Reed died suddenly on January
28th, 2002. His memorial service was held for family and friends on February
17th, 2002. We regret that a fine author has left our world, yet he leaves
us with his art to enjoy and to cherish. His last work will be released
in July, 2002 available from Black
Mind Caviar extends our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and fans of Paul Reed. Blessed be. Copyright
© 2002 Marilyn Jaye Lewis. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy or post
in whole or in part.
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