Erotic Travel Tales

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Marvelous!
Review: A fine anthology debut from a fine writer! There is no shortage of masterful storytelling in Erotic Travel Tales, not to mention masterful writing. Absolute stunners in this collection include Mitsuko, Moonburn, Journey of My Hands, and Lilly's Loulou. And the writers sound every bit as interesting as their stories, judging by the bios in the back of the book. I only hope that Ms. Szereto decides to treat us again with another volume of Erotic Travel Tales? I've got my passport ready!

Rating:
Summary: Superlative reading
Review: An upscale collection of unique tales to tantalize and titillate. Not at all what I expected from an erotica book, but 200 percent better. Truly intelligent writing in an intelligently put together collection. Real standouts include Szereto's "Moonburn" and Dulaney's "Mitsuko." Although it contains explicit material, you don't have to be a reader of erotic fiction to appreciate this anthology. In fact, you'd have to look long and hard to find an erotica book of this quality. Totally top notch!

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Marvelous!
Review: Author and editor Mitzi Szereto has corralled together an astute group of writers, both novice and experienced, for this sensuous odyssey of erotic adventures and mishaps. Christopher Hart's homage to orgiastic ritual and the goddess is breathtaking in his story, "The Mermaid's Sacrifice." Alison Tyler's "Wanna Buy a Bike?" gives a sexy portrait of Amsterdam's redlight district, while Gerard Wozek's "Journey of My Hands" leads the reader through a provocative series of call boy escapades in Paris. Other standouts include stories by Simon Sheppard, Jim Provenzano and Szereto herself. Both literate and sexy, this anthology is a definite page turner.

Rating:
Summary: A brilliant creation!
Review: I don't know what book the previous reviewer has read, but it surely isn't Erotic Travel Tales! Granted, if you're looking for mindless one-handed reading, then this anthology is not for you. However, if you are looking for intelligent and literate erotic stories, then you are definitely in the right place. Editor Mitzi Szereto (who is also a fine writer in her own right) assembles an entertaining and stimulating collection of tales that elevates the entire category of erotica anthologies. There are some real gems in this one, with some of the most outstanding entries coming from newcomers such as Ann Dulaney, SF Mayfair, Nalin Kant and Kieron Devlin. The writers are as diverse and international as the stories, which lends the collection that extra element of legitimacy. Erotic Travel Tales is a fine anthology and not to be missed by readers of quality erotic literature.

Rating:
Summary: a bit dull
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this fine anthology. Some of the best short story writing in contemporary erotic literature is included here. I was most impressed to see Faber and Faber rising star Christopher Hart in the book -- one of the lengthiest and most evocative pieces in the anthology, in fact. Only a writer like Mitzi Szereto has what it takes to pull this type of book together and really make it hum!
And I've been humming ever since!

Rating:
Summary: Delicious erotic traveling
Review: Mitzi Szereto brings together a wide range of voices in this sparkling collection. Stories virtually jump off the page in their originality. From the humorous to the poignant, this sexy anthology definitely outshines and outclasses anything I've seen on the bookshelves. I can't wait to get stuck in to volume 2!

Rating:
Summary: Delicious erotic traveling
Review: Not sure what book the "nuggets" reviewer has read, but there's plenty of ore in this sexy anthology. Editor Szereto has returned the literary quality to erotica, which seems to be absent in most competing anthologies. Perhaps erotica is a state of mind, as is quality. If you want quality, Erotic Travel Tales has it in multitudes. If you want erotic, Erotic Travel Tales is bursting at the seams with it. If you want cheap smut, there's plenty of that out there as well, but Szereto doesn't publish it. And I for one am very glad she doesn't!

Rating:
Summary: A lot of ore for a few golden nuggets
Review: Okay, I admit I don't know how anthologies work, and maybe some of the stories couldn't be more tightly edited for this book, because they had already been published, elsewhere. That's one possibility, but it only addresses one issue: the editing. Unfortunately, it was the nature of many of the stories themselves that I found off-putting, because of the heavy handed handling of the subject matter. Eros is a state of mind and as such it takes many forms, but an over reliance on descriptively graphic details of "orifice plugging" is not, in my opinion, erotic; that's about as sexually stimulating as pulling weeds.
"Mitsuko", however, is solid gold.

Rating:
Summary: An unusual offering.
Review: This anthology contains some of the most unusual stories I've ever come across, whether in an erotica collection or other. The editor has compiled an amazing assemblage of material, with the most creative and literate approach to erotica writing you'll find anywhere. The concept of using geographical locations as a theme works wonderfully well and there are some real surprises to be found here, particularly in the closing story, which is a travel tale of a VERY different nature. The line-up of writers attached to this book is equally impressive: novelists such as Christopher Hart and Maxim Jakubowski are here, as are major erotica names like Mary Anne Mohanraj, Alison Tyler, Natasha Rostova, and M. Christian. Definitely not to be missed.