F is for Fetish
Edited by Alison Tyler

Book Review by Ashley Lister

One of the many things I've always admired about Alison Tyler is her phenomenal imagination.

I'm not sure if "admired" is exactly the right word there – perhaps I'd be more honest if I said I "envied." The thing is, if you'd asked me to write titles for an erotic alphabet, I wouldn't have come up with anything like the classy ones she's already produced. A is for Amore, B is for Bondage and C is for Coeds are all clever titles that headline fun and cheeky books.

My list of titles would have started as follows:

A is for Anal.
B is for Bottoms.
C is for Cheeks (of bottoms).
D is for Derriere
E is for Everyone likes anal.

…and it would probably have followed in that sort of rear-obsessed milieu throughout the remaining 21 letters of the alphabet. Of course I happen to have an obsession with that particular act/part of the body. A fetish – if you want this review to have something that vaguely resembles a professional segue-way-thing.

(But this is all the absolute truth. I don't just love bottoms. I adore them and worship them. For a long time people used to call me "Ashley The Anus". And not all of those people were close family).

However, to get back on track, I was doing the professional segue-way-thing and I'd cleverly mentioned the word fetish. And F is for Fetish is the latest title in Alison Tyler's fun and cheeky collection of erotic alphabet anthologies.

According to my dictionary, fetish is "a form of sexual desire in which gratification is linked to an abnormal degree to a particular object, item of clothing, part of the body, etc." I mention this only so I can do another of those clever segue-way-things and add that fetish is circuitously derived from the Portuguese word feitiço "made by art."

And this book is definitely a work art.

In Knuckling Under, Shanna Germain's persona has a fetish for fingers. You can always expect clever story lines from Shanna Germain as well as sex scenes that take you deep into the thick of the action. Knuckling Under is no exception to Shanna's stylish fiction and she shows that, in the hands of a skilled erotic fiction writer, the flat tyre on a bicycle can lead to the sauciest sexual shenanigans.

Nikki Magennis, with Hair Trigger, paints a darkly seductive story of an obsession with hair and its associated rituals. This is a powerful story. Nikki has a gift for saying a hell of a lot with an almost minimalist number of words. Hair Trigger introduces a fetish relationship from its climactic beginning through to its cataclysmic denouement. The description is rich and colourful and the power is superbly strong.

And there's Pull, where Tenille Brown introduces us to Natalie who likes panty hose or, as we call them in the UK: tights. As always from Tenille, the story is deliciously executed. This particular fetish is one that I could happily enjoy. After reading Pull's descriptions of deniers and their allure, I'm hovering on the brink of giving up my obsession with rears and forging a whole new neurosis for panty hose/tights. Or, maybe I should start admiring bottoms while they're wearing panty hose?

Rachel Kramer Bussel presents a fishnet aficionado in Fishnet Queen; Andrea Seely manages to keep a straight face through Tickling Her Fancy; and Kristina Lloyd takes us back to Boot Camp. There are quite a few fetishes covered in this clever collection of fourteen stories: all of them well executed and every one worth revisiting either in re-reading or perhaps in real life. If F is for Fetish had a sub-heading, I think it should have been: do try this at home.

F is for Fetish is another perfect addition to a highly collectible set of anthologies. Whether you're reading this book because you're looking for fiction about your favourite fetish, or because you're researching the possibilities of adopting a new one: F is for Fetish contains some of the best erotic fiction from today's top erotic authors.

Ashley Lister
October 2007

F is for Fetish
(Cleis Press; July 24, 2007; ISBN-10: 1573442844)
Available at:  Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

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© 2007 Ashley Lister. All rights reserved.


About the Author: Ashley Lister is a UK author responsible for more than two-dozen erotic novels written under a variety of pseudonyms.His most recent work, Swingers: True Confessions from Today's Modern Swinging Scene (Virgin Books; ISBN: 0753511355), a non-fiction book recounting the exploits of UK swingers, is his first title published under his own name.
Ashley’s non-fiction has appeared in a variety of magazines, including Forum, Chapter & Verse and The International Journal of Erotica. Nexus, Chimera and Silver Moon have published his full-length fiction, with shorter stories appearing in anthologies edited by Maxim Jakubowski, Rachel Kramer Bussel and Mitzi Szereto. He is very proud to be a regular contributor to ERWA.
Websites: www.ashleylister.co.uk / ashleylister.blogspot.com

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