cover image Seduction

Seduction

Tony Peake. Serpent's Tail, $11.99 (0pp) ISBN 978-1-85242-314-8

This 12-story collection of erotica from the U.K. claims to focus on the seduction that precedes sex rather than the sex itself. What one expects is to be left hanging breathless at the end of each story, knowing that sex, although unwritten, is inevitable. Unfortunately, these seductions aren't necessarily successful or terribly erotic. Atlanta's attempt to entice a young boy from a catalogue company in A.L. Barker's ``Soft Sell--A Fantasy'' is embarrassing rather than seductive. In Steven Kelly's ``Strangeness and Charm,'' an artist's model named Grace discovers that although she is frequently looked at, she lacks seductive power. The stories read like incidents rather than passionate encounters of mind and/or body and they lack the emotion that marks American erotica. The stories in this collection may not be an American reader's cup of tea and will probably serve more to reinforce stereotypes of British sexual reserve. (Feb.)