Review: Big Book of Orgasms

This one does what it says on the tin, as they say in the world of DIY. It’s a book (real or e), it’s big (69 stories big) and it’s focused sharply and overwhelmingly on orgasms. So what else could you possibly need to know?

I guess you’d want to know that the stories are fluently written, original and hot. Check, check and check. But I’m increasingly realising that this goes without saying in anthologies from Cleis Press. The stories are well chosen and professionally edited. So go buy it. What, you need more?

Oh, okay then, the book is addictive. You sit down and think, I’ll just read a couple before I go and do all those things on my to-do list. And then you think, just one more. Just one more. And before you know it, it’s way past your bedtime and all the things on your to-do list no longer seem like such high priorities. Each story is short, like an intense burst of orgasmic energy, which makes it all the more surprising when you realise how long you've spent with this book (and I say 'with' rather than 'reading' because of the likelihood of, er, interaction).

It’s all about orgasms. Yeah, I know, I said that already. And the title says that. But really, think about it. As a writer of erotica, I know how hard it is to describe an orgasm without them all sounding the same: the build-up of tension, the hardening of muscles, the release, the desperate search for a metaphor other than waves breaking on a shore. And how, sometimes, it’s better not to try to describe all the physical sensations at all. And how I've just described the female orgasm and forgotten all about the guys. Well, these 69 stories offer variety in the obvious sense - variety of genders, groupings, sexual acts, toys, vanilla and kink - but they also provide a whole new insight into orgasmic possibilities. They remind us just how many routes to la petite mort there are, and that no climax is ever quite the same as another. 

And, back in the spirit of DIY, there are a lot of solo stories, which is a such a refreshing change to the romance formula of couplings or the odd menage. It's a reminder that, yes having a partner or partners is all very nice, but it's not an essential requirement for sexual pleasure. How lovely, and empowering, and liberating, and other such self-help terms: we all have the wherewithal in our own fingertips (or the palms of our hands) to give ourselves joy in so many ways. And the chances are that if you read this book, you will. 

I received the Big Book of Orgasms: 69 Sexy Stories, edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel, to review from publisher Cleis Press. You can buy it at Amazon, Amazon UK, Cleis, iTunes and other major book stores.