Gotta
Have It: 69 Stories of Sudden Sex
Edited
by Rachel Kramer Bussel
Cleis,
2011
"He
was already two knuckles deep into my cunt, so asking for his name
was kind of pointless."
Thus
begins Kathleen Bradean's wonderful contribution to Gotta
Have It, entitled "A Good Stiff One".
I start my review with Ms. Bradean's story not only because it's one
of my favorites, but also because it captures the essence of Rachel
Kramer Bussel's new collection of flash fiction - stories that turn
on the heat from the very first sentence. The subtitle of this book
is definitely appropriate. With no more than 1200 words available,
these stories tend to race into the clinches, leaving both the
characters and the reader a bit breathless.
The
best tales in Gotta Have It ,
however,
are
more
than
just
fast
and
furious
sex
scenes.
I
was
extremely
impressed
by
the
depth
and
originality
some
of
these
authors
managed
to
pack
into
a
small
package.
Ms.
Bradean's
story
is
a
case
in
point.
It
captures
all
the
awkwardness,
the
inwardness,
of
fucking
a
stranger
at
a
party
-
the
lack
of
emotional
connection
even
as
you're
being
propelled
into
the
sensual
stratosphere,
the
judgments
one
can't
help
oneself
from
making.
Consider
Carmel Lockyer's lesbian lust-fest, "Pink Satin Organza".
"Here's the problem; Sonya isn't even my friend," the
narrator begins, guilt-tripped into acting as a bridesmaid for her
sister's best friend. The bride's stern aunt provides some rough
consolation, though. By the middle of the tale, "Her red
lipstick is being equally shared between her mouth and mine".
The characters in this story could easily sustain a much longer
piece. I'd love to see the narrator and the aunt at the next
"fitting".
Gotta
Have It
offers
considerable
variety
in
orientation,
kink,
mood
and
even
explicitness.
There's
the
high
octane
collision
between
two
women
on
the
leather
seats
of
a
vintage
Corvette
in
Evan
Mora's
"My
Femme",
the
improbable
but
irresistible
M/M
butt-fuck
at
35,000
feet
in
Mike
Bruno's
"The
Copilot",
the
deserved
punishment
of
the
deliberately
clumsy
waiter
in
Sommer
Marsden's
"Laugh",
and
the
unabashedly
naughty
exhibitionist
in
Jeremy
Edwards'
"No
Blame,
No
Shame"
("Even
the
hum
of
the
ice
machine
sounds
libidinous.")
Shanna
Germain
offers
up
an
ironic
woman
Bible
teacher
in
"Genesis"
("I
don't
hunt
them
down.
They
come
to
me.").
D.L.
King
serves
up
a
sizzling
version
of
the
stern
librarian
fantasy
in
"Punishment
Befitting
the
Crime".
In
"Intersect",
Burton
Lawrence
gives
us
a
zero-G
liaison
between
two
space
freighter
captains
that's
constrained
by
physics
to
no
more
than
seventeen
minutes.
"After
Ten
Years"
by
Christen
Clifford
masterfully
conveys
the
complex
joys
and
disappointments
of
sex
after
a
decade
of
marriage.
And
Salome
Wilde
wins
hands-down
in
the
category
of
originality
(or
possibly
bizarreness)
with
"Too
Wondrous
To
Measure",
about
the
love
affair
between
a
human
woman
and
Godzilla.
(I'm
not
kidding!)
Of
course, given who I am, I was particularly drawn to some of the
BDSM-themed stories. Mike Kimera's chilling "Need-Leash"
manages to be arousing and disturbing with no actual sex at all. "My
nipples stretch the silk the way my desire for you stretches my
morals," says the nameless female narrator, only too aware of
her own abasement. "Over His Shoulder" by Maximilian Lagos
is a more light-hearted tale about the erotic power of the written
word. Teresa Noelle Roberts' story, "Laughter in Hell",
highlights the paradoxes in a power-exchange relationship. ("My
cane still makes her wet and her laughter still makes me hard."
Possibly my favorite BDSM tale was Valerie Alexander's "Don't
Struggle", which gives us a peak into the thoughts of a
manipulative but appreciative Dom. The insights in this story will
stay with me. (I read it at least four times.)
Of
course, with sixty nine stories, I can't begin to mention all the
stories I enjoyed. This is a huge book - over three hundred fifty
pages. Overall, Ms. Bussel has done a great job assembling work by
both familiar and new authors. Having edited anthologies myself, I'm
in awe of the amount of effort that must have been required, managing
communications with sixty eight contributors. (The collection
includes one of the editor's own stories as well.)
The
depth
and
breadth
of
Gotta Have It
means
that
there
will
be
something
here
for
every
reader.
If
you're
in
the
mood
for
a
quickie,
I
highly
recommend
this
book.
