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AQUA EROTICA

Name: AQUA EROTICA
Author: Mary Anne Mohanraj
ISBN: 0-609-80656-4

18 STORIES FOR A STEAMY BATH

edited by Mary Anne Mohanraj ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2000

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It would have to be a very steamy bath indeed to match the temperature of the best stories collected here, which use the unifying metaphor of water to ring some sexy changes on the usual tanglings of orifices and organs. In Michael Hemmingson’s “Movements,” group sex in a Jacuzzi is only the beginning for a husband and wife on the verge of breaking up—until they find that infidelity isn’t just an aphrodisiac, it’s also good business. Hemmingson leavens the raunch with sly humor, as does Diane Kepler in “Hydronamica,” the tale of a physics student who takes a “study break” with a rain-soaked fantasy. Poppy Z. Brite’s “Nothing of Him That Doth Fade” takes a darker view as it depicts a gay couple lost at sea during a diving tour, both of whom “did not trust death to give them that fabled final orgasm.” Diving is also the excuse for “In Deep,” by Simon Sheppard, an explicit account of a down-and-dirty gay tryst that escapes hard-core classification (if at all) only because of its razor-sharp prose. Billed as “the first waterproof book for adults” (that means plastic cover and pages), editor Mohanraj’s volume of high-class erotica hardly needs such a gimmicky presentation. Hot and wet—also extremely well crafted.

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2000

ISBN: 0-609-80656-4

Page Count: 176

Publisher: Three Rivers/Crown

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2000

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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THE COLORS OF US

by Karen Katz ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1999

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This vibrant, thoughtful book from Katz (Over the Moon, 1997) continues her tribute to her adopted daughter, Lena, born in Guatemala. Lena is “seven. I am the color of cinnamon. Mom says she could eat me up”; she learns during a painting lesson that to get the color brown, she will have to “mix red, yellow, black, and white paints.” They go for a walk to observe the many shades of brown: they see Sonia, who is the color of creamy peanut butter; Isabella, who is chocolate brown; Lucy, both peachy and tan; Jo-Jin, the color of honey; Kyle, “like leaves in fall”; Mr. Pellegrino, the color of pizza crust, golden brown. Lena realizes that every shade is beautiful, then mixes her paints accordingly for portraits of her friends—“The colors of us!” Bold illustrations celebrate diversity with a child’s open-hearted sensibility and a mother’s love. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-8050-5864-8

Page Count: 28

Publisher: Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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THE TRAIL TO BUDDHA'S MIRROR

by Don Winslow ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 18, 1992

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Neal Carey, the Smollett-loving specialist in finding people who don't want to be found (A Cool Breeze on the Underground, 1990), is hustled off to San Francisco to drag AWOL pesticide expert Robert Pendleton away from china doll Li Lan and back to paternal corporation AgriTech. But the fireworks that erupt after Neal's found the happy couple make him wonder whether gorgeous, talented painter Li Lan isn't actually a Communist agent who's trying to woo Pendleton back to her country; by the time Neal has been taken prisoner in the Walled City of Hong Kong, he's already gotten the Communists, the CIA, and AgriTech ready to burn him. And more trouble lies ahead, as shadowy patriarch Xao Xiyang and his treacherous underling Peng plot against each other to manipulate Neal into exposing Pendleton and Li Lan in a climax that still has room for a surprise or two. Despite Neal's inveterate habit of wising off in his mind's mouth, this is a sturdy two evenings' worth of entertainment.