AmosL
05-14-2008, 09:13 AM
Jamnack, Lynne, editor. “Periphery: Erotic Lesbian Futures”, Lethe Press, 2008.
Diverse and Speculative
Amos Lassen
“Periphery” is a wonderful anthology of Lesbian fiction which contains thirteen stories that deal with the future. Attraction and infatuation as well as desire are looked at from the feminine view. The book fits into three different genres—science fiction, erotica, and Lesbian literature and there is something here for everyone. I found it especially interesting in that I had to switch back to “reading as a woman”, a regimen I learned in a graduate course of feminist fiction. I found the collection to be exciting; each story was a pleasure unto itself and taken as a whole the book covers so many topics that it is truly a well rounded anthology.
Looking to the future, the women included here take on a variety of issues that will surely be important. Aside from the usual ideas of coupling, love and lust, memory and possibility, freedom and sacrifice, we also have themes of religion, rock and roll, dystopia, aliens and politics.
I suppose that some may label this collection as science fiction since the subtitle speaks of the future but these stories cross all kinds of lines and boundaries and they are bound by the fact that they are so diverse and contain human emotion. For this alone, this is a book worth reading.
Diverse and Speculative
Amos Lassen
“Periphery” is a wonderful anthology of Lesbian fiction which contains thirteen stories that deal with the future. Attraction and infatuation as well as desire are looked at from the feminine view. The book fits into three different genres—science fiction, erotica, and Lesbian literature and there is something here for everyone. I found it especially interesting in that I had to switch back to “reading as a woman”, a regimen I learned in a graduate course of feminist fiction. I found the collection to be exciting; each story was a pleasure unto itself and taken as a whole the book covers so many topics that it is truly a well rounded anthology.
Looking to the future, the women included here take on a variety of issues that will surely be important. Aside from the usual ideas of coupling, love and lust, memory and possibility, freedom and sacrifice, we also have themes of religion, rock and roll, dystopia, aliens and politics.
I suppose that some may label this collection as science fiction since the subtitle speaks of the future but these stories cross all kinds of lines and boundaries and they are bound by the fact that they are so diverse and contain human emotion. For this alone, this is a book worth reading.