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When I was in the 5th grade, a kid told me that it was impossible for me to cough and pass gas (fart, if you're nasty... or an 11 year-old boy and if you are an 11 year-old boy shouldn't you really be over at scarleteen.com?) at the same time and that if by some weird reason I did happen to do such a thing, I would explode. So, what happens if at the moment of climax you are struck by uncontrollable laughter? Chris Bridges' Giggling Into the Pillow pushes you to do exactly that with what is not only a particularly funny collection of stories, parodies, and articles about sex but is also the most honest erotica I've read. Giggling Into the Pillow highlights what happens in sexual relationships once you know each other. This isn't a Red Shoe Diary filled with stories of strangers meeting in exotic locations and letting their bodies do the talking. I'm sure there's a lot of sex going on in the world that is crammed with ripped bodices and heaving chests and knowing glances between silent partners engaging in passionate, romantic, lustful lovemaking. I may have even experienced it once or twice. More often than not, however, included in my once very active love life are conversations about who would go to the sex shop to get more lube and why I would thrust harder when called "Daddy" and why I was sticking my tongue there and whether or not we should lie on our sex diary for the condom study. This is the eroticism of committed relationships between normal folks. Bridges gets that and he understands that it can be hot. The tongue in cheek how-to and self-help manuals are amusing and the parodies, Ask Miss Dildo and Jim Jackson, Clitoris Hunter being the standouts, are often inspired. The strongest parts of the collection, however, are the short stories that feel true even if they aren't. They feel right even if the situation is so very wrong. These are the stories I could believe happen behind the closed doors of my neighbors' apartments. The book gets off to a great start with Found: One Dildo. What would you do if there was a synthetic male member in the middle of the road? Bridges' results make you hope to be in that very situation. Sex au Jus and Happy Fucking Easter are noteworthy because they are both incredibly sexy and incredibly hilarious. Au Jus presents us with an absurd situation that becomes a wonderfully erotic dance. Fucking Easter is a mundane situation that anyone with children can relate to and yet it, too, becomes a mischievous and wonderful sexual encounter. My own personal favorite is Self-Paced Course. Odd that, considering that it may be closest to traditional erotica. The climactic sexual encounter is nearly an adulterous one except that both parties are completely clothed and you can't really cheat on someone by going down on a rubber vagina can you? Perhaps that is too weighty a question to be raised in this situation. What I do know is that both my libido and my funny bone were aroused and I think that's exactly what Chris Bridges hoped for. |
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12.07.06: Scarlet Letters -- in case it isn't glaringly obvious -- is currently
on an extended hiatus. The web has changed, we've changed, and
we're trying to figure out how we both fit together now, which isn't a process we want to rush. If you're looking for more current SL-related content, you can
have check out upcoming books from editor Heather Corinna and previous co-editor Hanne Blank, check out Heather's current sexuality sites, or explore sites through the femmerotic network. We hope to be back with you soon, as fresh, challenging and
unexpected as ever.
In the meantime, by all means, enjoy our years of past content,
all of which still remain in the public and subscription areas.
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