Writer and all round literary don Maxim Jakubowski, Lovereading's crime expert, also has a passion for Erotic Fiction. So, he has taken on the mantle of selecting books for our Provocative Prose genre. Below are the first of his selections.We hope you enjoy them and visit regularly for more inspiration.
We have free opening extracts of all the 'featured books' click on any book to download. A note from Maxim Jakubowski From time immemorial, prose has celebrated the joy of the senses and addressed the joys and complexities of sex. Think ‘The Song of Solomon’ in the Bible or The 1001 Nights, through to Chaucer, Boccacio and the often shocking sensual nightmares of the Marquis de Sade. So where does the line between what is considered erotic and what might be termed pornographic stand? Some argue that if titillation is the only object of the exercise, then it falls into the realm of the latter. But then one must be careful to distinguish between titillation and provocation, and who would deny that D.H. Lawrence, for instance, with LADY CHATTERLEY’S LOVER seriously attempted to combine both elements, while still offering social commentary and a deep examination of human feelings and attitudes to sexuality. More modern practitioners of erotica like Henry Miller, Anais Nin, Anne Rice with her ‘Sleeping Beauty’ trilogy (as Anne Roquelaure) and others have pushed the envelope further, and I would argue that we are right now in the middle of a veritable Golden Age for literary erotica, where no sexual subject is taboo and can be written about with both sensuality and delicacy and an attention to serious characterisation. Naturally, some will always find such books shocking. But I daresay none of those I have selected for your further perusal could be found guilty of being exploitative. So, stretch your fictional limits and dip, with caution, into this ocean of pleasure! _________________________________________________<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>A note from <a href="https://www.lovereading.co.uk/maximjakubowski">Maxim Jakubowski</a></strong><br /></span></p>
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<p>From time immemorial, prose has celebrated the joy of the senses and addressed the joys and complexities of sex. Think ‘The Song of Solomon’ in the Bible or The 1001 Nights, through to Chaucer, Boccacio and the often shocking sensual nightmares of the Marquis de Sade.<br /><br />So where does the line between what is considered erotic and what might be termed pornographic stand? Some argue that if titillation is the only object of the exercise, then it falls into the realm of the latter. But then one must be careful to distinguish between titillation and provocation, and who would deny that D.H. Lawrence, for instance, with<em> <a href="https://www.lovereading.co.uk/book/9780141441498/isbn/Lady-Chatterley%27s-Lover-AND-A-Propos-of-Lady-Chatterley%27s-Lover-by-D.H.-Lawrence,-Doris-May-Lessing.html">LADY CHATTERLEY’S LOVER</a></em> seriously attempted to combine both elements, while still offering social commentary and a deep examination of human feelings and attitudes to sexuality.<br /><br />More modern practitioners of erotica like Henry Miller, Anais Nin, Anne Rice with her ‘Sleeping Beauty’ trilogy (as Anne Roquelaure) and others have pushed the envelope further, and I would argue that we are right now in the middle of a veritable Golden Age for literary erotica, where no sexual subject is taboo and can be written about with both sensuality and delicacy and an attention to serious characterisation. Naturally, some will always find such books shocking. but I daresay none of those I have selected for your further perusal could be found guilty of being exploitative.<br /><br />So, stretch your fictional limits and dip, with caution, into this ocean of pleasure!<br /><br />Maxim Jakubowski will be teaching a 3 days creative writing course on erotica for Faber & Faber this autumn. <a href="https://www.faber.co.uk/article/2009/5/faber-academy-erotica-course" target="_blank">Click here</a> to find out more.</p>
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The Story of the Eye
Georges Bataille
GEORGES BATAILLE - Some would say the French have always had a discerning touch for the sexual as well as the bizarre and Bataille’s THE STORY OF THE EYE, imbued by the excesses of surrealism take sex into another dimension....
Format: Paperback - Released: 26/04/2001
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Lust Bites
Kristina Lloyd, Portia Da Costa, Mathilde Madden
LUST BITES - The Black Lace imprint has been at the forefront in presenting erotica by women for women and this collection of sexy vampire stories by the best British female writers is a great example of how erotica can...
Format: Paperback - Released: 08/11/2007
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The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica : Volume 8
MAXIM JAKUBOWSKI - My MAMMOTH BOOK OF EROTICA collection has now been going for 15 years. The initial best-selling volume was an attempt to demonstrate the breadth and sheer quality of the genre and initiated a whole new wave of...
Format: Paperback - Released: 29/01/2009
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Story of O
Pauline Reage
PAULINE REAGE - STORY OF O is, of course, one of erotica’s perennial classics but its importance should never be overlooked. The tale of a young woman who gives in to her submissive nature and undergoes a sexual quest with...
Format: Paperback - Released: 28/04/1994
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Ultimate Burlesque
EMILY DUBBERLEY & ALY FIXTER - Another outstanding collection of red hot stories, with proceeds going to breast cancer charity, ULTIMATE BURLESQUE celebrates the art of strip tease with new tales from the creme de la creme of Britain’s new...
Format: Paperback - Released: 29/09/2008
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One Hundred Strokes of the Brush before Bed
Melissa P.
MELISSA P. - A major worldwide best-seller, 100 STROKES OF THE BRUSH BEFORE BED is the often daring tale of the coming of a sexual age of a young Italian schoolgirl, and was allegedly heavily autobiographical. But beyond the sexual...
Format: Paperback - Released: 04/07/2005
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Wetlands
Charlotte Roche
CHARLOTTE ROCHE - This young German writer’s WETLANDS is the latest shocker from the world of literary erotica, following the hospital saga of a young woman with a sick fascination for body waste, secretions and some of the more taboo...
Format: Paperback - Released: 25/06/2009
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The Delta of Venus
Anais Nin
ANAIS NIN - The famous diarist wrote the stories in DELTA OF VENUS, and other collections, specifically to order for a discerning rich collector of erotica and they have since become delicate classics, combining the sheer delicacy of female sexuality...
Format: Paperback - Released: 30/03/2000
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