Meeting the Master by Elissa Wald
ASIN B009NY1WWY
Story Rating: 5 out of 5 paddles
Sting Factor (kink): 5 out of 5
Review:
If you are a fan of literate erotica, READ THIS. This is a beautiful collection of stories and poems with sometimes subtle and sometimes overt but always pervasive themes of D/s. In the author’s own words, “It depicts a dark and little-understood area of sexuality, often outside of what we recognize as a sexual context.”
These are all contemporary stories, but the book was first published in 1995, so by now they have an almost retro feel. At the time, books like this were comparatively rare, and I think that’s something to appreciate as one reads through this: that in a time of relative scarcity, something so extraordinary was born.
Poetry is difficult to accomplish without looking foolish. That all of the poems here are outstanding is incredible in itself.
“Prometheus and Hercules” is especially amazing. So short, yet powerful. “The Tarot of Hector” is hair-raising if read aloud.
And then we get to the stories. This is the sort of writing that makes me weep for ever wishing to become a writer, because I’m never going to produce anything this good.
These are some of the most emotionally complex erotic stories I have ever read. They are layered, nuanced, deeply emotional, sexually charged, and yet . . . they are not, for the most part, graphic in the slightest. They are erotic; desire is the uniting theme, and submission, the connections we create, and the holds those connections have over us, even years later.
