Monday, August 16, 2010

Review: "Fast Girls: Erotica for Women"




If I'm being honest, he wasn't the most gorgeous naked man I'd ever seen, but he was the most attractive man in my apartment at the moment, and a most willing participant in my sex games.

-- From "Confessions of a Kinky Shopaholic," Jennifer Peters

*

Get your Number 14s ready. Rachel Kramer Bussel's newest anthology,  Fast Girls: erotica for women, has possibly some of the hottest smut I've come across in some time. And you know I read a lot.

In "Confessions," our protagonist is fresh from the adult toy store with a bag bulging with new toys. Next to her on the bus, a man who may or may not be trying to get a peek into that bag. Who hasn't thought about this, about the attractive stranger who knows our dirty secret and who's willing to come home for a few hours of fun, no strings attached (but nipples clamps, hell yeah)?

At its core, that's what Fast Girls is about: women engaging in sex for the pure pleasure of it, indulging in their wildest fantasies with no guilt and no anxiety. If you're looking to be swept off your feet by the romance, look elsewhere. While some of the stories do feature women in relationships, even those don't make the relationship itself the feature. It's not about the man, the woman, the partner... it's about you. It's about knowing what you want and going after it.

Random encounters with nameless strangers, boyfriends who live across town, friends with benefits -- and you can put aside all of your preconceived, cliche notions about loneliness and daddy issues. These are women in charge of their sexuality, women who know themselves and what they want, and who are fearless in pursuit of it.

One fabulous aspect of the collection is its diversity. RKB has gathered together an impressive set of stories, no two of which are the same. This means that, yes, you might read something that makes you uncomfortable. Bussel's own "Whore Complex" did that, pushed me to my limits of comfort. And in the end, I realized that her protagonist is stronger for knowing herself, knowing what gets her off, and going after it. And that, in itself, is completely empowering.

Highlights of the collection are Susie Hara's "Waiting for Beethoven" (gorgeously written erotica, almost dreamlike), Suzanne V. Slate's "Panther" (tapping into my own bestiality fantasies without ever actually going there, it's a piece so highly erotic in such a short amount of space that your mind will be blown), and Elizabeth Coldwell's "Princess," a story that took something that is not my pleasure at all, thank you very much, and had me sitting there thinking at the end, "Mmm... maybe... yes."

With high-quality writing across the board and a little something for every woman who finds strength in her sexuality, I highly recommend this book, but do keep your #14 close at hand. That or a willing participant in your sexual games. ;)

*And a reminder: I also reviewed RKB's anthology, Please, Ma'am, which featured submissive men. Delicious, divine, submissive men. Another recommended book. Next? Who knows? I just know that I'm really, really, really enjoying her anthologies.

*And another reminder, as if you needed one: My all-time favorite vibe -- a deargodwhatthehellohjesusfuck sure-fire deliverer of orgasms and greatest tool for finding your G-spot ever -- is the Doc Johnson Lucid Dream 14 Multi-Speed, Waterproof G-Spot Vibrator, Twist-bottom Control, Purple

Order some books, put new batteries in your 14, and shut your cell phone off. You can thank me later.

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