Hot & Bothered 4: Short Short Fiction on Lesbian Desire
By Karen X. Tulchinsky (Ed)
REVIEWED BY: ANDREA ZANIN
Hot & Bothered 4 has all the hallmarks of the first three—for better and for worse.
Hot & Bothered has consistently provided a rare and refreshing showcase for the many voices that prove not all dykes are white, middle-class and 20 to 40 years old. The sheer variety of stories in this anthology is enormous, from reminiscences about early-adolescent first kisses to haunting scenes of eroticized sweatshop hierarchy, from experimental narrative meditations to blunt tales down-and-dirty lesbian fucking. The English is flavoured with Japanese, Spanish, Jamaican patois; the characters are corporate executives, heroin addicts, deli clerks, bikers, pseudo-celebrities, construction workers, the crazy lady next door. Really, it’s a deliciously diverse smorgasbord of dyke desire.
However, the writing quality is completely all over the map from story to story, making for a very uneven collection. And somehow, the format remains vaguely unsatisfying. Each of the 66 super-short stories is told in 1,000 words or less—an interesting premise that doesn’t always quite deliver. They’re just not long enough to sink yer teeth into. Hot & Bothered 4 is hit & miss, but the balance of duds vs. gems may depend more on the individual reader’s specific tastes than anything else.
http://www.arsenalpulp.com/select_book.php?book=167
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