Steve Issac reviews “A Seasoning of Lust”

Steve Issac purchased, read and reviewed my book very recently, and last night sent me the review.

I am a bit slow on the uptake.  Others read his review on his website:  http://readingbypublight.blogspot.com and wrote to me.

Steve is an incredible writer.  I can’t pigeon hole him as to genre, because Steve is no pigeon.  He’s better described as  iconoclastic in the best sense of the word.   Cuts new paths, a  rebel, an innovator in his writing.     I am constantly amazed at the span of his imagination.  He’s like a pony who can turn on a dime.  He makes good use of wit and comedy and cultural devices. I think some of what I am reading of his is sci-fi, but I can’t be sure, though I think  Steve takes this to a whole new and unfamiliar level.  He’s that good. I admit to being confused at times by Steve’s writing, but the confusion is mine, because Steve writes on the edge.  Other writers seem ponderous to me  after reading a short by Steve.  He’s that impressive.

So when he said that he had bought my book, was going through it slowly and will offer up a review…I was flattered, but also apprehensive.  Steve is a better, more polished writer, and I didn’t expect the praise and encouragement he gave.  But I have to say  Steve’s review of these individual pieces gave me  elation but more importantly, his review gave me a different perspective of them.  Seeing them through other eyes, and a writer of Steve’s ability made me want to read them again.  And that is good for any author.

Thank you, Steve.

Lady Nyo

Saturday, July 04, 2009

A Seasoning of Lust, by Jane Kohut-Bartels

(pb; 2008: erotic story/poem anthology)

Overall review:

Fantabulous, evocative anthology of mostly-microfiction stories and poems (which largely embrace Asiatic, mythological and Nature-reverent leanings).

This is one of the best erotica anthologies I’ve read in a long while. Every piece works, with recurrent themes and structures creating reader-enveloping moods.

This anthology is not a rush-through read.

Read this like you would read an excellent collection of masterfully-wrought, multi-layered comic strips — read a few pieces, bask in their characters, and concise morality, wisdom and moods. Let the full impact of the pieces soak into your brain.

Repeat this process whenever the mood strikes you.

I can only hope my first microfiction and poem anthology is this superb and self-assured.

Stand-out pieces:

“Bad Karma” (story): Courtesan- and poetry-themed microfiction, with a funny, echoic finish.

“The Apple Tree“: Sad poem about death, heavy with theme-integral vividity.

“Musings on a Closing Day” (poem): Life and death, mused about with everpresent Asiatic imagery (geishas, petals, et cetera).

“The Devil in Paris” (story): In the 1770s, a gender-shifting Lust Demon (Louis/e Gormosy) toys with a naïve bookwormish young woman (Mlle Luciern), hoping to defile her innocence.

John Garrett, Gormosy’s friend and a fellow devil, is invited to join in the corrupting game — with unexpected results. One of my favorite, twisty tales in this anthology.

“Queen of Sheba“: A servant thrills at the presence of the black-beautiful queen passing by. Gripping poem.

“To The New Lover #1, #2“: Effectively erotic, intense verses.

“The Shibari Series“: Thirteen short tales, where a woman goes through karma-progressive transformations, via experiences with rope play and bondage. These experiences are dominated by “the Falconer” (a Master) and a Tengu (a Japanese shape-shifting Demon). Striking-image work.

“A Reason For The Season” (poem): Nature-themed, beautiful celebration of Christmas.

“Mlle Duchamps” (story): A French, former aristocrat (M. d’Epinay) and his Terror-humbled household take in a twenty-year old carriage-accident victim who may be more than she seems. Spare, excellent, sublime work, this.

“Winter Wood” (poem): A gentle-hearted, forgiving (and apologetic) hunter ponders a recent argument with his wife.

“Olsen’s Pond“: Heart-wrenching poem, about a winter tragedy. One of the best poems in this collection, with a stunning end-stanza.

“The Lady Nyo Poems” (book section) – These superb, smart-minded pieces, about a sixteenth-century, “mostly-happily married” poet-wife, include: “A Bad Quarrel,” “Lady Nyo Forgives Her Husband” and “The Temptation of Lady Nyo“.

Other pieces included in this worthwhile anthology:

POEMS – “Season’s Change“; “Erotica Sea” (sonnet); “Love” (sonnet); “Grief” (sonnet); “Fate” (sonnet); “Spring Can’t Wait“; “Winter Widow“; “Spring Orgy“; “O Absalom!“; “The River“.

“JAPANESE INSPIRED VERY SHORT STORIES“: “A Fortunate Fate“; “The Stillness of Death” (featuring Lady Nyo, and her ill-tempered alcoholic husband, Lord Nyo); “The Geisha“; “The Night of the Stain“; “The Punishment“.

MYTHOLOGICAL/PERIOD-PIECE/FAIRY TALES: “The Valkyrior“; “Ali Baba and His Four Thieves“; “Graham Thomas“; “Iliadic Tale“; “Orpheus and Eurydice“.

HAIKU & TANKA POEMS: These sometimes erotic, sometimes melancholic haiku are theme-fused and contrasted with their variant tanka-expansions.

“La Vendetta“: Solid tale about a vain, cruel woman (Maria de Guissepa Agnesi Faini), who gets her appropriate comeuppance.

Exquisite collection of poetry and stories, this. By all means, check this out at www.lulu.com!

Tags: "A Seasoning of Lust", erotica, http://readingbypublight.blogspot.com, publishing, Review, Steve Issak