I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that I sometimes feel as though I spend more time looking for masturbation material than I do actually using it. Although images and movies and literature are available by the truckloads online, it’s not always easy to find quality material (and, let’s face it, I’m cheap) which is free. While Five Minute Erotica isn’t necessarily free, it’s reasonably priced and will be your own volume to peruse on many occasions, which I believe you will.
Five Minute Erotica is full of – as you might have guessed – short stories and prose, also known as sudden fiction. Most of the nearly 40 stories range between one and five pages, so it’s perfect if you’re already revved up and just need something to get your engine going. Of course, if you want to read a handful of stories, this anthology will work well. However, this is probably not the type of erotica best for those who like lots of character development. While filled with characters and surprisingly powerful events and relationships, the point of this is not to be prolonged. If you know you want something quick and easy, this is it.
Also, while everything is sexual in nature, it’s not always about sexual things happening. Some of the stories simply show us glimpses into the sexual thoughts of characters, such as what they like or abstract memories. Sex isn’t always happening, but it’s there. When I began the book, I wasn’t in the mood, but a couple of stories helped to change it, and the short stories didn’t require much effort from me as a reader to do so.
I liked that the stories’ authors, themes, styles, and formats were varied. Some dealt with sex with strangers or lovers and even voyeurism. One story was in the form of an e-mail between lovers, while another used only commas for punctuation. Written in third and first person, by women and men, there really is a little bit of everything here. I would guess that most people would be satisfied (if they’re interested in this sort of thing) although I can’t guarantee you’ll like everything. I quickly skipped over a story that had toe-sucking in it (sorry, that’s a “No” thing to me), and, of course, there are some I forgot. Overall, however, I enjoyed this book, and it’s certainly of a higher caliber than what is readily available online.
Among my favorites was a story with tentacle sex, where a young woman who is driving becomes lost and abducted by aliens only to experience pleasure-giving mouths at the ends of tentacles. In A Closer Encounter, Blake C Aaren writes:
An infinite number of tentacles rove all over Tasha’s body. Stroking, caressing, inching. Nibbling. A tentacle of her own -of her wetness- trails down the inside of Tasha’s thigh.
This isn’t my normal flavor of erotica, but the writing did it for me!
I also really enjoyed a story in which a woman is dressed as a cat for a party and engages in intercourse with her partner. During the session, she acts and verbalizes as only a cat. I was intrigued by the role-playing in this story, Bad Kitty, told by Thomas Roche.
I wonder if it is a coincidence that the stories most memorable for me are written by men or, for that matter, that they are more unusual. I must say, though, that most of the stories are of a more vanilla style, which is fine by me but might be a little tame for some. Aside from some very light bondage, Five Minute Erotica does not cater to those with taboo or kinky fetishes. Still, it’s a good, light read.
Overall, I think Carol Queen did a good job as editor, picking high-quality stories by writers of all sorts of notoriety. She also contributed a piece herself – The Bounty of Summer – after which I will never look at fruit the same again. While I didn’t enjoy the first story being the one that uses only commas for punctuation (I found this a confusing opening piece), I found it easy to go from one story right into the next.
Other than that, I wasn’t distracted by language errors like I’ve done with amateur erotica in the past, which pleased me immensely. I did notice that the margins are rather small, and I wasn’t overly fond of the font used for headings and the table of contents.
Although I read this from beginning to end, you can easily pick up just about anywhere in the book, which is one of the pluses of such a gathering of stories. This would make a great book for partners to read aloud to each other (although I did not because it’s not our thing). Another plus is the author blurbs at the end of the book. If you really like an author, it can help to point you to their other published pieces.
The downfall of such a collection is that if you find something you like, it isn’t going to last forever. Also, if you want something, in particular, you might not find (enough of) it because this book does cram in such a variety.
This was a great foray into erotica for me. Now that I have read more erotica, I can confidently say that I look back at this book fondly–and keep meaning to reread it. If you’re looking for something to get you in the mood for some playtime, whether alone or with a partner, consider Five Minute Erotica. The dozens of wonderfully self-contained narratives in this collection are sure to start the libidinous wheels a-turning.
Categories: Books, Reviews
Tags: 5 star, Erotica, roleplaying, tentacle sex
