Best Gay Erotica Of The Year Volume One

The amount of full frontal male nudity and gay sex that you see in mainstream television and movies lately is unprecedented. In many ways these things have lost their shameful allure, their forbidden intrigue. The weirdest sexual fetishes and erotic oddities, the things that used to be discussed in hushed voices and that used to churn in the illicit recesses of our imagination, can be found in our hip pocket. In terms of human sexuality, the smart phone has proven to be one of the most culture changing advancements since the internet, and before that the pill.

Where does that leave the book? The printed word? Where does that leave erotica -- not pictures or videos or live-streaming interactions, but words, which the reader must mix with his fears and desires to bring to life.

If Cleis Press' anthology "Best Gay Erotica of the Year, Volume 1" is any indication of the state of this ancient art form, traditional erotica is changing as well. It's pulling away from the clich�, the tried and true, but it certainly isn't breaking any new ground.

The 20 writers in this volume are writing about a lot of things other than the sex act, but they aren't experimenting with character or narrative form.

You know the formula: a bit of exposition then kissing, sucking, rimming and pounding -- all of that has changed with these stories. You still have the typical genres: the western, the military story, the adventure in a far-off land, the coming of age, and of course the romance. But in these short stories, the eroticism takes a backseat.

For example in T. Hitman's western "Incident at Yellow Rock," the desperados keep their clothes on for more than 90 percent of the narrative -- the opposite of proportions of the typical erotica.

Is Gregory L. Norris' "The Husbands" a sci-fi or a sexy version of "The Twilight Zone?" And though Salome Wilde's "Bus Ride" apologizes for its hot public indecency with one of the oldest plot devices in the book, K.B. Jett's rom-com is appropriately titled "Whip it Out."

The things that used to be the hallmark of erotic literature -- the dangerous, the dirty and the self-degrading -- are surprisingly absent in these stories. Though there are exceptions, like Richard May's "Fire and Pain" where a supernatural "master" lords over his human "boy," more than not the stories make sex a monogamous, downright spiritual experience, like Karl Taggart's "Nothing in Common" and Richard Michael's "The Healing."

This paperback edition, may not serve the purpose of typical erotica. You're not likely to maintain a rock-hard erection throughout. But it is likely that some of these stories will leave you thinking.

"Best Gay Erotica of the Year, Volume 1"
Edited by Rob Rosen
Cleis Press
$16.95
www.cleispress.com