The Best American Erotica 2005

by Susie Bright (Editor), Alicia Gifford (Contributor)

Full of literary star power and with absolutely nothing out of bounds, these steamy short stories pack a wallop for every sexual taste.
Susie Bright is the fearless boundary crosser of contemporary erotica, and The Best American Erotica 2005 features stories of unprecedented literary pedigree and a stunning breadth of imagination.
Pulitzer Prize-winner Jane Smiley details a beautiful erotic interlude in an otherwise sordid real estate deal; Mary Gaitskill celebrates the unexpected ardor of one middle-aged couple; Steve Almond reminisces about the best one-man/three-girl Ecstasy party ever; Nelson George recounts the erotic escapades that befall a young man who accompanies a celebrity athlete when he picks up a gaggle of girls; and Carol Queen explores the joys of making love with summer fruit. Readers will also thrill to the year's most stellar stories from every imaginable erotic genre.
The class of The Best American Erotica 2005 is changing the rules about writing about sex. It's no longer pulp it's must-read literature showcasing the best writing around, all packed into the year's sexiest anthology.

Genres: Erotica, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies

240 pages, Paperback

First published February 2, 2005

About the author

Susannah "Susie" Bright (also known as Susie Sexpert) is a writer, speaker, teacher, audio-show host, performer, all on the subject of sexuality. She is one of the first writers/activists referred to as a sex-positive feminist.

Reviews

[Elusive.Mystery · Rating 2 out of 5]

Allright, I must admit that there were some gems to be found in this book:
- “I like a smooth body the best, I have to admit, the hand or tongue traveling unobstructed over hard surfaces. Clean like the skin of belugas whales or dolphins or even a pillowcase . . .”
- “The small of your knee is wet; it echoes your salivating mouth.”
- “Sometimes you press into me gently like leaning into the wind, and sometimes you are pounding me like an animal, like television violence.”
- “We’ve come to the point of orgasm repeatedly, and pulled back with deep breaths, tugs on the scrotum, and sudden changes of pace. But now, they are rumbling up like premonitions, like the nerves of animals before a thunderstorm, or the iron figures of lions in China that wait for centuries and finally, when an earthquake is approaching, metal balls hidden in the animals’ skulls are jarred loose and fall into their mouths. You see them, their mouths full, and you know the moment has arrived.”
- “My two fingers inside you feel the tightening as you get close, and when I try to slide three in there I discover that Hollywood girls do their Kegels. You almost squeeze my fingers out when you come, and you all but box my ears as you shudder all over and your thighs quiver tight, closed against my head.”

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love erotica you know, and i've bought many editions of the bae. i was pretty nonplussed overall by this year's edition. there were a few standout stories that i enjoyed or that got me vaguley thinking about wanting to have sex. one of the good stories was "charles sykes' spirit of ecstasy" by ps haven. it had a kink to it that i enjoyed. it was a unique story that wasn't at all what i expected it to be. the narrator had a fetish, and she'd always wanted to fuck the spirit of ecstasy, which is the decorative thing on the front of rolls royce's. and she fucks it, oh does she fuck it. another story that i really enjoyed was "it's never too late in new york" by nelson george. the story was good, well thought out. and it had fucking, which so many of the bae 2005 stories were lacking. the other stories that i enjoyed were "sit" by bernice l. mcfadden (pretty hot), "after the beep" by simon sheppard (mmm, stranger sex without the stranger) and "genuflection" by lana gail taylor (not really erotic or sexy, but a damn fine story with excellent writing).

[Raven · Rating 3 out of 5]

So . . . I have to say if this is the BEST erotica America could come up with in '05, we are in a sorry state. Some of the stories are really good, like really hot, but most are rather hit and miss. The ones that are really worth reading are: "Slippy for President" by Steve Almond, it was an entertaining read--though not particularly erotic. "My Puritan Reader" by Bert Hart; "Seduction" by Cecilia Tan--one of the shortest and also one of the best in the book; "Brontitis" by Maria Dahvana Headley was exceptional, in that almost-reaching-the-spot-but-not-quite way, several more were decent. But most of the others kind of left me hanging, a little disappointed, like a late-night booty call that didn't go so well, ya know? I'm sure it depends alot on your particular brand of erotica as well, probably some of ya'll would totally disagree with my selections and love the ones that I hated, so it goes.

[HeavyReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favorites in this collection are

"Hollywood Christmas" (pretty straightforward story about a man fucking a woman, told from his perspective)

"It's Never Too Late in New York" (group sex)

"My Puritan Reader" (a young New England woman has to be strip searched by a respected man of the town to prove that she is not a witch)

[Cheri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Branching out into other genres and just plain curious considering all the recent hype around smutty smut smut.

Since it had "something for everyone", most of it was weird or had elements of weirdness. Could it be my lack of interest in short stories encompasses dirty ones, too? This is not to say some of them weren't enjoyable. But they were over so fast. *hey-o*

[Evett DiBianco · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was curious to read this from my book club - it's okay, but wouldn't buy it. If you'd like to read it...you can borrow mine.

[Matt Holtman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not that good. I was hoping for better.

[sjams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Of the whole collection only 2 or 3 stories were all that engrossing. Not what I expected of "The Best".