Title: Confessions: Admissions of Sexual Guilt Author: Sage Vivant & M. Christian Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press Publish Date: 2005 Pages: 334 Genres:: Fiction,Reviewer: SexHerald Staff

Rating:

A large part of it could be that these confessions are mere fabrications, taking away from that delicious feeling of complicity one feels when being let in on a particularly juicy secret. In an age where reality television is crowding out all other programming, and real-life humiliations and degradations are on very public display, fiction just isn’t good enough anymore, especially when it’s trying so hard to mirror reality. There is no true sense of transgression in these pages, and that is a sort of anathema in a collection that promises “admissions of sexual guilt.”

The even greater sin here is the lack of sensuality in the words, written as if for a specific assignment, with the spice of erotica an often forgotten afterthought. As well written as pieces like Chris Bridges’s “You Think You Know a Person” (a wildly funny tale of an internet romance that is not as it seems) and M. J. Rose’s excerpt from The Halo Effect (a man reliving his first romance) are, the sex is often overshadowed by guilty hand-wringing and unburdening. Oftentimes, the subject matters of the admissions themselves are more than enough to kill any sort of lustful buzz the reader has upon opening the book. Some examples herein are lawsuits over AIDS transmission; suicide; impotence; past abuse; pregnancy; jealousy-fueled murder; and child molestation.

There are some gems, however. The opening piece, “Playing the Part” by Edo Van Belkom, features a married couple delightedly realizing that their innermost fantasies intersect. This dirty tale of voyeurism, exhibitionism, and behaving badly brings play-acting to the next level.

“Dans le Noir” by Jerry Rosen takes the reader to Paris, where a certain restaurant serves up the gimmick of dining in complete darkness. In this case, the pitch-blackness of the restaurant’s interior hides more than bad eating habits for the vacationing couple that venture in for a meal.

Still, these choice morsels aren’t enough to redeem an entire volume of faux-confessions, and not even a back-up vibrator could get this party started once I was lost in fictional worlds of disease, horrific crime, and deprivation. Now if you want to really play truth or dare, there’s that time I slept with my roommate’s older brother...
   Email this review to a friend