AROUSED

Finley (Pooh Unplugged: An Unauthorized Memoir, not reviewed, etc.) told her fellow contributors to this anthology of erotica that they could write absolutely anything, and this daft pile of literary whiffle, some of it serious, drifts as far from Henry James as words allow. Linda M. Montano’s “Once Upon a Time” mixes the Prodigal Son’s return home with his Ascent to the Union of Love by way of recipes for Chai, Keer, Chapati, Basmati rice, and Cashew Rice with Peas. Wallace Shawn pulls out his 1975 battle-of-the-sexes one-act play, The Youth Hostel, while John Waters treats us to photographs of “12 Assholes and a Dirty Foot.” Feminist poet bell hooks relates the writing of poetry to her “Penis Passion” and “Gimme Some Dick.” Finley swallows her confrontational side but reveals all with “He Delivers! A Straight Woman Looks at Gay Male Porn.” Famed fetishists also on hand: Hubert Selby Jr., Annie Sprinkle, and Vagina Davis.

Curiouser and curiouser as the contributors take us down their private pleasure warrens.