IN BED WITH

Anthology

Berkley          

ISBN:  978 0 425234259

June 2010 (2008 Reprint)

Ultimate

IN BED WITH is a rerelease of a hardcover book (in trade size) which contains a collection of stories written by well known authors. While the anthology lists the authors contained in the book, each story is written anonymously. I have to say, this sent the wrong message to me right off the bat. If you do not want to be associated with erotica, then don’t write it or use a pseudonym with no association with your true name.

As I started to read this collection, I became more and more disappointed.  These stories are very short and if they were meant to titillate, they fell short of their mark.  For the most part, (with a few exceptions), these stories are erotica.  What I mean by using erotica as an adjective in this sense is that they are about sexual encounters with no investment of emotions.  I felt unconnected to most of the stories and could not identify with the characters - what they were doing and why they were doing it. Erotica is hot right now (literally and figuratively) and the market is flooded with books and authors who can nail a steamy scene.  IN BED WITH, did not hit its intended target with me.

Some examples of what I mean are:  One story has the female lead drugged up on pain killers.  As a reader we do not know if she has sex or imagines it.  By the end of the story it implies sex, and to me this skirts rape.  Another story is a historical based on a dancer.  We are in her head when she sleeps with her protector – of which she is pretty bored, and then she moves on (while still attached to her protector), to another man, who happens to be her dance partner. Maybe if this was a full length book which explored both relationships it would have worked better, but for me, it just possessed a sleazy feel.

If you enjoy the writings of these authors (Adele Parks, Ali Smith, Bella Pollen, Chris Manby, Daisy Waugh, Emma Darwin, Esther Freud, Fay Weldon, Jane Moore, Joan Smith, Joanne Harris, Justine Picardi, Louise Doughty, Rachel Johnson, Santa Montefiore, Stella Duffy, Imogen Edwards-Jones, Jessica Adams, Kathy Lette, and Maggie Alderson), you might be interested in trying to figure out who wrote what story, but I don’t think that is a compelling enough reason for me to recommend this book.

Reviewed by Sarah Silversmith

Rating 2