Sweet Life: Erotic Fantasies for Couples
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Book Summary Information
Editor: Violet BlueEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-11-09
ISBN: 1573441333
Number of pages: 225
Publisher: Cleis Press
Book Reviews of Sweet Life: Erotic Fantasies for Couples
Book Review: Sweet? Try Cloying...
Summary: 1 Stars
'Sweet Life: Erotic Fantasies for Couples' and I have essentially broken up by now. We've tried making it work for some months now, but the sexual chemistry just isn't there. It boils down to irreconcilable differences: I want something that is well-written and original; Sweet Life strives for as many cheap thrills as you can get with third-grade diction and vocabulary.
We gave it an earnest attempt at first: the wife and I got comfortable together and I read aloud the first five stories or so to her. Interest waned as it became apparent that certain phrases would be repeated throughout each tale. Phrases such as 'already erect', 'thrusting repeatedly', 'cries of pleasure' became commonplace, predictable. Every paragraph featured at least one superlative adjective.
Maybe if we'd built a drinking game around our reading-time ('Wet and slippery', take a drink!; 'So darn hard', take two drinks!), we could've made it work. But the inspiration wasn't there, so the inspiration wasn't there.
Besides droll repetition of stock erotica vocabulary, Sweet Life lacked the sophistication that I've come to desire in my fiction. I can't boast a collegiate background in literature, but I do appreciate it when my books can adroitly turn a phrase. I can count on Chuck Palahniuk's novels to titillate. Terry Pratchett does things with his sentences I didn't know were possible. And Stephen King, while getting on in years, still can work his prose into a frenzy, with a long-enough running start.
But Sweet Life's stories (with one exception, a doozy by Hanne Blank that has almost no sex in it) are, without fail, contrived, formulaic and cliché. Some examples:
'Although my internet-whiz husband spent his days in front of a computer screen, he kept in shape by by swimming laps at lunchtime at the health club next door to where he worked.'
'Negotiation has always been the hallmark of our relationship.'
'...it had literally been years...'
At 'literally', I nearly slammed the cover on Sweet Life, thinking, "There's just no excuse for this abuse of language in our relationship." But I kept my calm and just laughed it off, and let the distance grow naturally.
One day soon, I'll nonchalantly move the book to the cardboard box in the closet and the next thing it'll know, someone will be shelving it for purchase at the local thrift shop. And then I'll have completely moved on.
Summary of Sweet Life: Erotic Fantasies for Couples
The sales of books about sexual fantasy aimed at heterosexual couples prove how determined readers are to hold onto that erotic spark. But most of these books underestimate the literary refinement of their readers. Good Vibrations sex educator Violet Blue corrects that trend, showcasing imaginative, sophisticated stories to arouse and renew readers? sexual explorations. Sweet Life collects 25 erotic tales guaranteed to inspire newlyweds and long-term partners alike.
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