The Book of Eros: Arts and Letters from Yellow Silk

This second volume in an erotic series, inaugurated with Yellow Silk: Erotic Arts in 1991, keeps up the high standards of the first book and of the magazine from which the selections here are taken. A work of thoughtful, finely written eroticism, it includes 17 often distinguished short stories and many delicate poems. Most of the writers look for some subtlety about sex that has rarely seen print. Some contributors are well-known (Galway Kinnell, Sharon Olds, David Mamet, Louise Erdrich, Angela Carter, Marge Piercy, etc.) but most are unsung poets and writers whose work here often shows fresher, more surprisingly finespun sensibilities than their more renowned counterparts. Nearly all the fiction writers have published poetry and thus have a sensitive way with sensuous description. None of this material is pornographic or masturbatory; the whole book would have been rejected by the old Olympia Press. Standout stories include Richard Zimler's ``Learning How to Love''; Jancis M. Andrews's ``Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let Down your Hair''; Ira Woods's ``Catnipped''; and Bharati Mukherjee's ``Orbiting.'' A lagniappe of tasteful but intriguing ecstasies. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Feb.)