I write quick reviews of what I read; perhaps a better word is response. I’m going to start to post them on the blog in order to give them greater visibility and also to have more original content here. At some point, I’m sure that their amateurish nature will begin to embarrass me. Then I’ll once again limit them to other Goodreads participants.
Sugar in My Bowl: Real Women Write About Real Sex by Erica Jong
I gave this book three stars. Well, between three and four stars. To clarify, this anthology of stories is not erotica; it’s stories about sex written by women. Some tell of bad sex, some of sex that never happens, some don’t ring true, and some ring beautifully true. My favorites include “Light Me Up” by Margot Magowan and “Reading of O” by Honor Moore. Magowan writes about a couple trying to reignite their sex life after their child is born. Juliet, the narrator, has one problem after another–pain, loss of interest, even repulsion. The story is plotted so well and with such keen insight that at the moment I give up hope for the continuance of their marriage, Henry responds with unexpected grace and humor, and I, like Juliet, reinvest in their bond. Moore’s fragmented essay weaves her own love story into the experience of reading Pauline Reage’s haunting The Story of O. It’s beautifully, delicately presented.