Penguin Classics the Penguin Book of Erotic Stories By Women - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0241965454 ISBN 13: 9780241965450

Publisher: Viking, 2012

Synopsis

An anthology of erotic fiction by great female writers, with stories by: Kathy Acker, Isabel Allende, Laila Baalabaki, Simone de Beauvoir, Svetlana Boym, Angela Carter, Kate Chopin, Colette, Elizabeth Cook, Candas Jane Dorsey, Carol Emshwiller, L.A. Hall, Radclyffe Hall, Bessie Head, Siv Holm, Evelyn Lau, La Marquise de Mannoury d'Ectot, Katherine Mansfield, Ann Oakley, Iva Pekárková, Claire Rabe, Alifa Rifaat, Joanna Russ, May Sinclair, Verena Stefan, Gertrude Stein, Nicole Ward Jouve, Anna- Elisabeth Weirauch, Edith Wharton, Amy Yamada. Tales of forbidden lust, illicit desires, the twin hungers of loneliness and lust and the complexities of intimacy: all are explored in this fascinating anthology of stories on erotic themes. Spanning the last hundred years The Penguin Book of Erotic Stories by Women brings together tales that capture the sexual mores of their ages. This is an anthology that acknowledges and confirms a woman's right to shape and define her own sexuality, rather than having it forced on her by men. 'Sexy, scholarly and full of surprises' Independent 'An astounding array of accomplished sexual writing . . . thoughtful and original' Lynne Truss, Sunday Times 'A fascinating collection . . . from fairytale whimsy to postpunk invective, from fables of oppression to those of liberation, it is full of unforeseen delights, surprising us into reshaping our thoughts about familiar writers, about sexual politics and about the meaning of erotica itself' Independent

About this title

About the Author

Susan Williams is an historian and author of many books, most recently Spies in the Congo. The Race for the Ore that Built the Atomic Bomb (2016) and Who Killed Hammarskjöld? The UN, the Cold War and White Supremacy in Africa (2011), which triggered a new UN investigation in 2015 into the death of the Secretary General. She grew up in Zambia and has worked in Britain, Zimbabwe and Canada. She is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London.

From Publishers Weekly

The editors of The Penguin Book of Modern Fantasy by Women join forces again, this time turning their selective eyes to more earthy considerations. Here are 31 tales, spanning 103 years and encompassing six continents, arranged in chronological order. With a compilation that includes such diverse authors as Edith Wharton and Kathy Acker, it's a safe bet that each reader will find some of these tales titillating, others curious and still others repulsive. Among the more intriguing offerings is Danish author Siv Holm's "I, a Woman," in which a woman, choosing multiple fantasies over conventional marriage, posits that civilization and humanity are polar opposites. In Svetlana Boym's "Romances of the Era of Stagnation," an emigre returns to Russia, wading through bureaucracy while queuing for information on two former loves. The adulteress in Elizabeth Cook's "Billets Doux," finding the mark of a wife on her lover's person, competitively decides to leave her own. The curious entries tend to focus on fetishes: Czech-born Iva Pekarkova's "Truck Stop" ends with a virtual paean to sperm; Yuan Ch'iung Ch'iung's "A Lover's Ear" explores the erotic trust necessary for cleaning a beloved's ears. Some of the most imaginative pieces come from those writers with an SF and/or fantasy background (L.A. Hall, Joanna Russ). Head and shoulders above the rest is Carol Emshwiller's whimsical "Sex and/or Mr. Morrison," in which a female being (alien?) eats Fig Newtons while sitting on a man's shoes in his closet, eagerly awaiting a peek at his pecker. Caveat emptor: Erotica is definitely in the eye of the beholder.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0241965454
• ISBN 13: 9780241965450
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 416
• Editor: Williams Susan, Jones Richard Glyn