Title: Quixotic Erotic Author: Tamai Kobayashi Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press Publish Date: 2003 Pages: 205 Genres:: Lesbian, Fiction Reviewer: J. Henry

Rating:

Author Tamai Kobayashi’s previous books have centered around lesbian culture with compilations of prose by the lesbians she interviewed. Quixotic Erotica is her first foray into a collection of erotica establishing her as a literary erotica writer. Here, Kobayashi takes the reigns and goes on to detail of exploration, humiliation, insecurity and fulfillment in sexuality and individuality in every story by using different genres within the guise of erotica while adding insightful revelations of her characters. By coupling this with arousing images and situations, Quixotic stands out of your usual erotica stories.

Quixotic Erotic is split into two parts: the first is the Erotic section that includes stories like “Mirror, Mirror," about two women arousing each other from afar in separate apartment complexes; “Egg,” which details an inter-office romance that becomes sordid in one-upmanship, and another office tryst where a worker does not realize her attraction to women until she is caught in a sensual manner with someone she cannot see in the dark. One of the strongest and most sensual stories in this section is “The Reader” (a story within a story) that follows Kathy, a teenage girl out to pursue her inner desire of lesbian intimacy, yet is held back by intense fear and scrutiny of her physical appearance. She is able to realize her full potential as a lover within a BDSM-type brothel for women. The acceptance that Kathy finds in addition to the substantial amount of arousing scenes of women being pleasured and denied make “The Reader” an enticing, well-rounded story with a pleasant ending.

The second section, Quixotic, is more emotional than arousing, and essentially impulsive just like the section’s definition. While there are stories that may stimulate such as the vignettes in “Vampyr," the stories in this section revolve more around the fantastical, with some elements of science fiction. The characters' urges guide them, such as the search for the love of a SIM in a lonely world in “Barcarolle” or trying to forget a lost love through an entity that is attractive and telepathic in “Bridges." Here, Kobayashi goes beyond what traditional erotica collections compile to tell the story of women who desire other women without the need to pepper it with vividly illustrated sexual encounters.

Kobayashi’s language does not stick to the basic descriptions of the physical, but extends to include the emotional and exotic for the women who give and receive in each story. She is a talented writer, not just in detailing intense intimacy, but also because her details of the inner thoughts and desires of her characters are fully realized by the reader. Between weeping, pain, hesitation, submission and stuttering insecurity, she is able to make these characters real and desirable to their partners in each story no matter how long or short.

There is no specific theme for Quixotic Erotic; it encompasses a broad range of enjoyment from within the office to a one-night stand to cunnilingus in a virtual reality world. Kobayashi successfully wends the characters and their destinations and lures the readers to an unexpected, but remarkable, journey.