Threesome

Bright (The Myriad Carnival) delivers an erotic collection of all-male threesomes that boasts astonishing breadth and delightful verve. The 12 stories cover a variety of territory. The first of the anthology's three sections opens with N.S. Beranek's touching and gentle "Call for Submission," in which a writer and his partner experiment with inviting a stranger into their bedroom and, in the process, rekindle their passion for each other. Another highlight of the section is Lawrence Jackson's "The Big Match," a hilarious epistolary story of two men using an upcoming soccer match as cover for their illicit hookup. The second section of the anthology is racier and less tender, opening with Dale Chase's "Dr. Dave," in which a longstanding relationship's flaws come to a head in the course of the couple's weekend encounter with their dentist. The final section contains four speculative stories with unambitious but solid fantastical elements; the best of these is Jerry L. Wheeler's surreal and unsettling "Strawberries," the tale of a land developer's doomed encounter with local farmer who won't sell. This powerful anthology unambiguously marks Bright as an editor to watch. (Mar.)