Review Summaries

• Readers value the anthology's affirming portrayal of diverse bodies and desires. The stories vary in intensity and explicitness, so some readers are startled by the stronger material, but the breadth of the collection is widely praised.

Reviews

• Hot and Groundbreaking Trans and Queer Erotica

  This anthology has been out for five years now, and my first question is, why are there not more than 14 reviews at Amazon.com and none before mine at Amazon.ca? Not that that 14 is not a goodly number, but this book deserves more of them. I suspect the answer is that there are so many crappy erotica books out there that the good ones get buried amongst the dreck. And even when the good books are not exactly buried, they do not necessarily gain the prominence they deserve. This is one of the ones that deserves such prominence. And let me not hesitate to say, even five years after its publication, work like this is still very much needed. This is a snappy and well written collection of transgender erotic tales which are in no way lacking in three-dimensional character development. Taken all together, these stories seem to amount to a kind of mini education in the world of hot transgender sex. This is a work that goes way beyond simply presenting characters with various manifestations of transgender identity or what they do in bed: it shows them as individual human beings, and not as two-dimensional erotic “types” such as “dick chicks,” and so on. This is a text that radicalizes and re-imagines how we look at our own genitals and bodies and how they connect to who we are. The stories range from hot, but realistic tales to hot but more fantastical narratives, such as one of my personal favourites here: “Dixie Belle the Further Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Kate Bornstein, who is probably best known for her ground breaking book, GENDER OUTLAW (1994). Written in the style of Mark Twain, the story postulates Huck Finn becoming a sex worker in drag and loving every minute of it. And this is not just a cute idea, by the way, but marvellously well executed, with a genuine feel for Twain’s prose. One really does not need to be transgendered, by the way, to enjoy these stories. Hot sex and the human psyche. What more can you ask?

• Take Me There: Trans and Genderqueer Erotica Tristan Taormino

  Amazing trans-gender-queer erotica, I can only recommend it! Sexy, smart, funny, what else can you ask for? It's really great!

• Non-hetero erotica

  I bought this one that was recommended to me and enjoyed it on several levels. As a queer gender person, finding satisfying erotica that isn't hetero-centric and cis-centric can be a challenge... probably why I write my own, because of the gap is frustrating. I digress, the short stories are sometimes very short, a single page; others go on for many pages. I enjoyed them all, with the gender variant characters and sexually ambiguity some of them presented providing me with mental stimulation. Is there a volume 2? :)

• Fabulously Lust Inspiring

  This anthology is hands down the most deliciously sexy compilation of erotica shorts that I have ever read, and I admit to having read a lot of smut. Not a single one of the characters in these stories are cardboard cutouts or stereotypes. From characters who have been sure of their sexual identity and orientation from a very young age (though not necessarily born with the typically associated bits) to characters whose gender is as fluid and changing as the seasons, to those who just don't fit into any one simple category, they all have one thing in common: they are all amazingly sexy. There wasn't a single story in the collection that didn't turn me on. I had originally planned on making special note of some of my favourites, and quickly discovered that I just couldn't choose, they all had so many reasons for me to love them, and artfully put together so that you couldn't help but keep going once you started. I didn't put this book down until I'd finished the whole thing, then I picked it up and started all again. Thank you, each and every author who contributed to this book, for giving me many, many happy dreams.

• I never wanted it to end!!

  As an avid collector of all things erotic, this was the book I've been waiting for. Tristan Taormino never fails to impress me, excite me and surprise me. Take Me There is not only hot, smart smut, but a beautiful, eyeopening experience into the world of trans* and genderqueer people alike. As a genderqueer I am grateful to Tristan and the contributing authors for this wonderful piece of art that makes my sex life less "oversimplified, sensationalized [and] invisible". I can't praise this book enough! You'll just need to read it for yourself.

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