SLOW HAND: Women Writing Erotica

The best of intentions motivated this collection of original erotic stories by and primarily for women. As editor Slung (Women's Wiles, 1979, etc.) explains in her introduction, she wanted to expand the genre on the high end, present fantasies enacted by real women (as opposed to airbrushed nymphets), combat contemporary prudishness, and...well, help women pursue better orgasms. However, in her effort to produce fresh material, Slung has also included a few strikingly unripe entries, like the bludgeoningly obvious ""Leaper,"" about two women who witness a suicide and then have sex, and ""The Footpath of Pink Roses,"" a rape vs. ravishment story that's politically correct to the point of ridiculousness. Things look up when pros like Sara Davidson take their turn. The author of Friends of the Opposite Sex (1984), etc., offers a frank and stimulating look at the sexual bending of a strong woman (""The Wager""), and Carolyn Banks's salt-sprayed tale of sexual initiation (""The Shame Girl"") is fine enough to hold its own outside the genre. Besides the unevenness, Slung's need to explain the meaning of her choices results in irritating pre-story exegeses; then she lets the authors also have a whack at explaining things once their stories end. It's enough to curl your toes. Someone should have told Slung to stop making sense.