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Review of "Entangled Lives"
Oct. 9th, 2007 09:14 pm“Entangled Lives: Memoirs of 7 Top Erotica Writers” (Alyson Books, 2007)
Edited by Marilyn Jaye Lewis
In the interests of full disclosure, I should mention that I had the chance to submit a memoir of my own to this collection. But I wasn’t able to juggle my deadlines so it doesn’t include my memoir. Not that this is important to anyone except me. It’s just that it’s hard to separate the things I would have said differently or the things I wouldn’t have said as well from what is actually written in the book.
But I’ll give it a shot. “Lives” includes memoirs by Bill Brent, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Amie Evans, Marilyn Jaye Lewis, Ian Philips & Greg Wharton & Adam, and Rob Stephenson. My hands down favorites are the essays by Bill Brent and Marilyn Jaye Lewis. There’s something about lovely, lyrical writing about sex that’s just plain bad for you that makes it hotter. Not that they are similar beyond that; Brent writes about his years on crystal meth while Lewis writes about a long-lasting torrid and illicit affair with another woman. But as a writer, what I liked best about these two essays was how both authors tied their experiences back to their writing.
Not because I entertain the (generally) mistaken belief that erotic writing is inherently biographical, that somehow we as erotica authors all mine our personal lives for our stories, but because in this case I think it’s important to who they are as people. Writing, like meth and self-destructive sex, is a kind of addiction; it has its moments of elation, its periods of crushing depression. Sometimes you just need to know that other people got through and made it work for them.
The other memoirs in the book cover negotiated polyamory, public sex, coming out and spanking, each from the varied perspectives of the different authors. Some of them are very nearly as fascinating as the Brent and Lewis pieces, others seem a bit long for the material. Still and all, it is a brave book, full of scenes that range from the poignant to the smoking hot. Read it to learn more about your favorite erotica writers or read it to discover writers who are new to you. Just read it; you’ll be glad you did.
Edited by Marilyn Jaye Lewis
In the interests of full disclosure, I should mention that I had the chance to submit a memoir of my own to this collection. But I wasn’t able to juggle my deadlines so it doesn’t include my memoir. Not that this is important to anyone except me. It’s just that it’s hard to separate the things I would have said differently or the things I wouldn’t have said as well from what is actually written in the book.
But I’ll give it a shot. “Lives” includes memoirs by Bill Brent, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Amie Evans, Marilyn Jaye Lewis, Ian Philips & Greg Wharton & Adam, and Rob Stephenson. My hands down favorites are the essays by Bill Brent and Marilyn Jaye Lewis. There’s something about lovely, lyrical writing about sex that’s just plain bad for you that makes it hotter. Not that they are similar beyond that; Brent writes about his years on crystal meth while Lewis writes about a long-lasting torrid and illicit affair with another woman. But as a writer, what I liked best about these two essays was how both authors tied their experiences back to their writing.
Not because I entertain the (generally) mistaken belief that erotic writing is inherently biographical, that somehow we as erotica authors all mine our personal lives for our stories, but because in this case I think it’s important to who they are as people. Writing, like meth and self-destructive sex, is a kind of addiction; it has its moments of elation, its periods of crushing depression. Sometimes you just need to know that other people got through and made it work for them.
The other memoirs in the book cover negotiated polyamory, public sex, coming out and spanking, each from the varied perspectives of the different authors. Some of them are very nearly as fascinating as the Brent and Lewis pieces, others seem a bit long for the material. Still and all, it is a brave book, full of scenes that range from the poignant to the smoking hot. Read it to learn more about your favorite erotica writers or read it to discover writers who are new to you. Just read it; you’ll be glad you did.