"Macho Sluts" by Patrick Califia

Originally published in 1988 by Alyson Books, Patrick Califia's "Macho Sluts" has been re-released in the UK this month by Arsenal Pulp Press. Brimming with sordid tales of gender bender BDSM, the book covers everything from Lesbians being topped by Gay male cops, through to a vampire fetish club blood letting love story, even a little vanilla sex is thrown in for good measure. Setting itself above most porn with very well written and paced stories, Pat takes us on a journey through a world of leather, pleasure, pain and a lot of hot fucking. Accompanying the stories is an essay berating censorship of erotica and timely advice (written as it was in the height of the Aids scare) on safe sex. A must have for anyone's naughty book cabinet.
Wow, what a collection, Jesus Christ, this is not a book you can read on the tube to work (although a friend of mine has tried). The stories depict hot unashamedly filthy deviant tales of sex, but always with a sense of love. The characters indulge in their passions and perversions with gusto, however they are always written with a sense of respect from Califia. My personal favourites included the story of the young girl being given a loving discipline session before being sent off to boarding school and the tale of the Cops mentioned above. In an almost Rolad Dahl way a lot of the stories have a surprising twist at the end which takes me back to the point that this is much better written and much more than just a collection of tales to beat off to. In summary this would get 5 hard canings, a wax drip and a good fisting out of five.		Oh, Saint Pat. How I adore thee. And how important this book has been, that reading it over 20 years after its original release, it still feels like there is space in the market / community / cosmos for such a title to be released. Amusingly, we previously hunted down an old edition prior to re-release to peruse, but it did result in me causing a series of 2nd hand book shop attendants on Charring Cross Rd to blush very hard upon enquiring if they possibly had the title. I love the introduction and how Califia firmly challenges the previously (and still somewhat) very guarded lesbian community to be more open and fluid with their fantasies and play times. And I think Pat was pretty successful as the not only are the subjects but the style a total win, making this a very entertaining read. I undoubtedly give it the full 5 Fanny fingers of fun.