How To Read Erotica

Dear Nina and Rita,

I've been married to my husband for 19 years. I'm in search of some hot literature to spice up my love life. Any suggestions?

Signed,
Not So Horny Reader

Dear Not So Horny Reader,

We recommend Susie Bright's The Best American Erotica. Every year our sexpert hero Susie Bright compiles an anthology of well-written, sexy short stories about heterosexual, bisexual, and queer encounters. Stories range from yummy (Lisa Wolfe's cake batter fantasy), to literary (Tsaurah Litzsky's symbolic search for a hermaphrodite after 9/11), to damn hot (Greta Christina's adventures at a peep show). These examples are drawn from the 2003 edition--our favorite. If you like what you find in one anthology, you'll be happy to know that Bright has been publishing them annually since 1993, so you can read eleven years of erotica while you wait for the 2005 volume.

You can read erotica alone while masturbating, and the stories will be fresh in your mind when you're having sex with your husband. He doesn't even have to know that Kip the rentboy is shyly undressing in your head. On the other hand, things could get even spicier if you and your husband are in this together. Some couples read aloud to each other in bed, on the phone, and during vacation car trips. Some busy couples pass the book back and forth during the week, reading privately, highlighting sections for each other in anticipation of hot sex on Friday night. Plus, you'll find that these stories are readymade sex games. You can use the stories as a foundation for dirty talk (Well, slut, did you get your fill? from Mel Smith's "Nasty") and role-playing (pretend the vibrator is a unicorn horn dildo from Robert Irwin's "Giraffe House").

Like all sexual explorations, you'll need patience and trust while you determine where your erotic literary interests converge...and diverge. Will you feel vulnerable sharing the gay rentboy fantasy with your husband? Will he mind revealing that he wants to slurp cake batter (or a beer) while he's getting a blowjob (see next week's column)? In the best possible world, you'll both be generously open-minded and fair while you take turns sharing the stories that turn you on.

All our love and more,
Nina and Rita

Got questions for Nina and Rita? Need sex advice? Send your questions anonymously using this form.