Boycrazy edited by Richard Labonte; Cleis Press, $14.95
Best Gay Erotica 2010 edited by Richard Labonte; Cleis Press, $15.95
Best Lesbian Erotica 2010 edited by Kathleen Warnock; Cleis Press, $15.95
What better way to start off the new year than with a healthy dose of erotic fiction courtesy of local publisher Cleis Press? The three anthologies highlighted here represent some of the best and the brightest new and previously published writers in the gay and lesbian literary arena.
The youngsters start us off in Boycrazy , a spirited collection of coming out erotica edited by prolific British Columbia-based writer Richard Labonte. Many of these stories exemplify the anxiety, the terror, and the delicious splendor of the first-time experience for gay men. The opening story, "Paperboys," follows two randy lads and their highly charged if short-lived experimentation with one another. It's a theme that permeates much of the entries as stories like "Larry and his Father" tell of a "lumpish and clumsy" boy hard at work developing his outer image while recognizing his burgeoning inner urges, and the two hot farmboys working the summer months together while "teaching each other how to kiss." Sexual initiation rites bind more horny adolescents in "The Dolphin Temple," the motorbike ride in "A Beautiful Motorcycle" makes all the difference to another boy's love life, and a video game arcade transforms a closeted boy into a man in "Game Boyz." If you enjoy reading tales with a boys-to-men flavor, this collection is fresh, contemporary, and very steamy without being too overwhelmingly detailed.
But if it's sordid details you really want, they emerge in grand fashion in Best Gay Erotica 2010. The stories here were chosen by Blair Mastbaum, an author with two novels under his belt and an obvious knack for selecting some of the newest and best erotic fiction from authors based in England, Seattle, Pittsburgh, "Lubbock fucking Texas," and even California's own Sierra Corrections Center.
Highlights include Tommy Lee "Doc" Boggs (currently serving out a seven-year sentence) writing about horny, pent-up jailbirds getting each other off in "Cell 13"; 23-year-old Texan Rob Wolfsham's "The Bed from Craigslist," a yarn about what sorts of things could happen if you buy a bed online from a beefy dude with a "coarse, black happy trail"; and Jeff Mann's wonderfully descriptive story "Smoke and Semen," which takes place amidst the briskness of late October ("fireplace weather") when a man's memories of his last relationship come alive to provide the backdrop for a sexy, steamy, and ultimately bittersweet tale of a boy, his muscle-bear, and a slave collar. Closing out the volume is Brussels author Jan Vander Laenen's "The Stuffed Turkey," a curious little tale about a nasty, horny game warden and a Christmas bird.
The girls are up next with Best Lesbian Erotica 2010, edited by playwright Kathleen Warnock (who assumes the helm from outgoing editor Tristan Taormino), with stories selected by Manhattan's five-piece pop rock alternative band Betty. 22 tales in all, there's lots to choose from, and plenty of spicy sex to enjoy and linger over. Co-authors Kimberlyn Reed and Anais Morten offer up a brazen, sex-drenched tale told from the perspectives of two very different women in "Shameless"; a vanity table and some sharp smacks make two ladies very content in "Flick Chicks"; rough-and-tough butch bikers make some noise in "Girona, 1960"; a locker room generates some heat for two lusty women in "The Sauna"; and a rendezvous via text messages ("Sexting") will look eerily familiar for those in the know. Burgeoning "baby dykes," San Francisco artist types, Pilates aficionados, club girls, and a "man-woman" on an overnight train all conspire to test the limits of female arousal in a collection that blossoms with imagination, and leaves what isn't written on the page up to the reader to flesh out. Happy reading!