On Love and Dogs: Cleanness by Garth Greenwell
Greenwell tells his story on the narrator’s terms, and that makes all the difference.
...more
Posts Tagged: Erotica
The Rumpus Book Club Chat with Melissa Broder
Melissa Broder discusses her debut novel, The Pisces (Hogarth, May 2018), the importance of love between women, and mermaid sex.
...more
How Amazon Is Making Sex a Dirty Word
“[A]s long as we retain all of these conflicting ideas of what sex is, and what it means to us, sex will always sell—until it’s inconvenient.”
...more
Good Sex (Writing)
If you aren’t yet familiar with the annual Bad Sex in Fiction Award… you’re welcome. The Erotic Review, however, thinks we should celebrate good sex writing instead, according to Ryan Harrington at Melville House. To that end, the editors are in the process of establishing a Good Sex in Fiction Award. Hopefully, Harrington notes, the award will […]
...moreBad Sex (Scenes)
Are sex scenes in books always bad? At The Millions, Drew Nellis Smith muses on poorly written depictions of passion, why authors so often leave out the messier details, and his own attempts to get it right: I’m no different than anyone else who has waded into this treacherous territory. I’m quite happy with my sex scenes. […]
...moreErotica Illustrated
For Hyperallergic, Claire Voon tours the New York Public Library’s collection of historical erotica, ranging from 15th century illustrations of eroticized mythological scenes to risqué 19th century photographs kept safe by owners in the pages of their books.
...moreThe Queen of Steam
“I was like, Either I’m a sexual deviant, which is always a possibility, or they’re wrong,” says Engler of publishers’ reluctance to print raunchy material. She sips from a can of Grapeade. “Turned out they were wrong.” At Vulture, Phoebe Reilly tells the story of the meteoric rise and slow fall of Ellora’s Cave, a […]
...moreWriting Erotica for Money
Once the story was actually finished, and there was no money to be made, all ambition tied to it evaporated, and now I’m left pretty much where I began. Ruthlessly lazy, without much money, and stuck for the foreseeable future at an annoying day job. Like pretty much every other writer in the world, I […]
...more
The Rumpus Interview with Tomi Ungerer
Writer and illustrator Tomi Ungerer discusses his exile in Ireland, being a target of censorship, and his work’s recent resurgence of popularity in the US.
...moreSperm Puppets All
Writing and sex have a lot in common, least enjoyable their knack for making participants feel vulnerable and insecure. But when anything goes, writers produce work that is beautiful for this very vulnerability: Believe it or not, the resulting scenes are often deeply moving. And here’s why: because nearly every bad decision a writer makes […]
...moreHappy Birthday, Mr. Maupassant
In celebration of Guy de Maupassant’s 164th birthday, Paris Review blogger Dan Piepenbring revisits his, ahem, seminal story, “Boule de Suif,” about a French prostitute who, like Melville’s Bartleby, would “prefer not to.” Read his coverage here, and the original piece here.
...more
The Rumpus Interview with Elissa Wald
Writer Elissa Wald chats about noir-infused novellas, taking sex seriously in your work, the pop culture explosion of BDSM, and the erotic power of service.
...more
Saturday History Lesson: That Time Edith Wharton Wrote Erotica
If you’ve never been to an archive, this is what it’s like: you will go mad from the hum of cranked up air-conditioning. You are usually only allowed to bring a pencil.
...moreThe Rumpus Sunday Book Blog Roundup
“How to write sci-fi erotica: Imagine what Mary Shelley would write after fucking Pris from Blade Runner.” At PANK, Kirsty Logan wants to tell you how to write genre. What are the scariest books you know of? “One hit literary wonders” (via) Why writers have to be careful when they talk. (via) Do you write or […]
...moreA Look at Freaky Right-Wing Erotica
Andy Cobb‘s new project “Drill Baby Drill” explores conservatives’ published writings about sex. First up, an excerpt written by Glenn Beck. About making out. With his sister. Seriously. Coming soon is episode two: “Bill O’Reilly Is a Stone Cold Freak.”
...more