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Books by Robert Fleming
African American Writers
Handbook /
The Wisdom of the Elders
After Hours: A Collection of
Erotic Writing by Black Men /
Intimacy: Erotic Stories of Love, Lust, and Marriage by Black
Men
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After Hours: A Collection of
Erotic Writing by Black Men
Edited By Robert Fleming
(Penguin Putnam, 256 pages, $14)
Introduction
If there's one thing most people
love, it's great sex, even in this time when our options include
virtual sex, phone sex, and cybersex. M-most as good as
experiencing it ourselves is good, hot, provocative erotica,
stories that give us a steamy sensual lift, a natural buzz, very
similar to that giddy feeling of finding a new lover. Recently,
a guest on one of the popular cable TV shows was discussing why
literary erotica was reaching a wider audience; exceeding the
expectations of both writers and publishers alike. He said that
there was only one explanation: the stories are sexy;
titillating, and most of all, safe at a time when sex can be
hazardous to one's health. There was plenty of anecdotal
evidence, the guest added, that well-written erotica can lower
inhibitions, increase libido, delay ejaculation, prolong orgasm,
and deepen intimacy. While a good erotic tale may not be able to
do all that and will never be a substitute for candlelight
wooing or true romance, no one can deny its potent entertainment
value.
There is a long history of sex and sensuality
in the work of male African American writers, who have
frequently used these themes to celebrate their passions,
manhood, and that most human of impulses. In the past, some male
writers used sex in their proud, courageous writing as another
mode of protest against political, social, and cultural
injustices. Along the way, that sense of defiance can be seen in
the soaring prose of such writers as Jean Toomer; Langston
Hughes, Richard Wright, William Gardner Smith, James Baldwin,
and Chester Himes, all of whom sought to depict their own notion
of sexuality and individuality. They wrote daring, challenging
novels, featuring aspects of love, desire, and intimacy that
defied the traditional white sexual myths and stere6types
ingrained in the popular culture after the release of D. W
Griffith's incendiary film, Birth of a Nation in 1915. No
longer were black men going to ignore or blindly accept the lies
and fantasies of others concerning their sexuality or morality.
This book also does not co-sign those tainted,
denigrating images of black male sexuality; instead it seeks t6
provide the reader with a few hours of fantasy escape, and fun.
These stories, while erotic and arousing, provide another
opportunity to view the sexuality of our men from different
vantage points, often from angles and approaches not usually in
our literature. Editing this book, I guess, was another way for
me to help to set the record straight. As conceived, After
Hours explores a wide range of black sexuality above and
beyond the familiar obscene concepts of the oversexed black stud
and predatory brute, offering a fresh glimpse at the modern
African American man who is sensitive, alert, enterprising, and
ready to take care of business in the arena of love, sex, and
moral responsibility.
Since this is not a religious primer or a
New Age treatise on "The Good Black Man in Affairs of the
Heart and the Flesh," these stories provide a diverse look
at the brothers, fathers, and lovers among us, with a few guys
who would be classified as lusty, naughty, or otherwise
"politically incorrect." That is okay, however;
because it is important to represent the full spectrum of black
men. The characters here are fully developed and
three-dimensional, and while "nice guys" have their
place, they are often depicted in current literature as
boring, nerdy, luckless in love, and one-dimensional. We make no
judgments. With a few exceptions, there is something for almost
everyone here.
And although some of the usual elements of
erotica are present, every effort was made to assemble a
multitude of voices, a strong collective view of the
contemporary black man and his carnal appetites that most
African American men and women could immediately recognize and
appreciate. The goal was to find the right mix of narrative
styles, talent, and vision to put together a collection that
would be groundbreaking, challenging, and sensually satisfying.
Whether it's unbridled lust, full-tilt erotic love,
self-affirmation, or self-destructive obsession, these issues
are examined in insightful, frank terms. Ultimately, the stories
malting the final cut were chosen for the art and style of the
story told, the sexual heat of the scenes, and the universality
of the themes and experience presented.
Every book starts with some kind of aesthetic
guideline. Returning to that age-old argument about the
differences between erotica and pornography, I sought out
articles and books that discussed this issue clearly,
thoroughly, and without bias. Since I worked during the early
1980s at the American offices of the French skin mag, Oui,
as an editor writing sexual fantasies for their letter section,
I gained some idea of where the line of demarcation between the
two genres was. What an educational experience that was! In
current books and publications, that line frequently is
manipulated and blurred.
One article, a 1992 New York Newsday interview
with Miriam DaCosta-Willis, one of the editors of the pioneering
black erotic collection,
Erotique Noire, provided me with
some critical definitions and guidelines for this project. Asked
about the boundary between erotica and pornography, she replied:
"I see pornography as being very carnal, and I see erotica
as being not only physical but also spiritual, intellectual, and
cerebral.... Pornography objectifies the individual, whereas
erotica brings two people together. You're participating in a
rite of union. One is commercial, one artistic."
Employing those words and remembering some of
the works from Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Cecil Brown, and
Chester Himes, I plowed ahead through the stack of submissions,
looking for clues to the complex, mysterious black male sexual
psyche in the new millennium. While we as a community remain
conservative, very moral in many ways, and deeply religious,
there are stirrings of a fresh, stripped-down sensibility that
runs counter to Old School chauvinistic notions of masculinity
and sexuality. It's something that has not fully reared its head
in the news media, films, books, and television, but its
presence cannot be denied. Apart from the stereo-typical images
in gangsta rap videos and buppie frat flicks, there is something
new and daring in how we as black men view ourselves as males
and as sexual beings, and in how we see our women and our
collective roles in the larger world. Both the frequency and
substance of the dialogue about love, intimacy, and
responsibility are increasing in our community. And it's about
time!
In After Hours, you meet brothers who
offer for your nocturnal reading enjoyment a juicy gathering of
reflective stories, lusty stories, funny stories, fantastic
stories-sexual adventures that will entertain and excite, inform
and ignite, all written by stylists. Some are within normal
limits while others sail over the top. Opening the collection is
a short gem, "Cultural Relativity," by National Book
Award winner and MacArthur fellow Charles Johnson, a story that
tantalizes with a strong sense of anticipation-much like two
teenagers on a first. date, their bodies close, but afraid to
give in to the magnetic pull of passion. While it may lack the
overt eroticism of some other entries, it is a taut, teasing
display of ideas and imagination in updating a very old
tale.
The next excursion into sensuality,
"Twisted," by Jervey Tervalon, immediately raises the
bar quite high for kinky, erotic expression and redefines the
term "coupling" with a tale that explores the outer
boundaries of sexual roles. In "Once Upon a Time," an
excerpt from the novel Rest for the Weary, noted novelist
and educator Arthur Flowers adds a little hoodoo flava in his
modern fable of a conjureman trying to seduce a formidable
female in the Crescent City. Up-and-coming novelist Brian
Peterson puts a hot, quirky spin on love and desire between two
horny yet cautious young black professionals in his fast-paced
story, "1-800-Connect."
The thrills and moans continue with a gorgeous
mystery woman and a randy Romeo amid the sandy beaches and
towering palms of exotic Hawaii in Earl Sewell's "Rock Me
Baby." Fans of veteran noir writer Cole Riley will not be
disappointed with his latest sizzling yarn of torrid Mexican
nights, bad choices, and damp sheets, "If It Makes You
Happy." Kenji Jasper; author of the critically acclaimed
novel Dark, revisits the arty boho scene in "Up," a
story of an ambitious poet who wants the big time and all its
sensual perks.
The question of what to do when the sexual
charge runs low in an otherwise solid marriage is answered in a
bit of erotic trickery laced with sensory treats from the pen of
Eric E. Pete, "Cayenne." Journalist-novelist Curtis
Bunn contributes one of the collection's true gems with his
insightful recounting of a couple's ravenous thirst for passion
and time away from the children in "Home Alone," not
to be confused with the dull movie with the mop-topped Culkin
lad. If Prince can blend the sacred and secular; so can Tracy
Grant, the author of the popular novel Hellified, who pulls no
punches in his tale of sanctified sexual play among the holy and
the fallen, "The Apostle Charles."
Laughs, Toads of them, compete with the
unrelenting sex romps of Brian Egleston's hilarious "Wallbanging,"
his chronicle of a sex-crazed American couple on tour in China
bent on squeezing one more session of love into their schedule
at the Great Wall, even if it gets them in trouble with Chinese
authorities. Lust and humor also play a big part in the
legendary John A. Williams's excerpted story, "Odell,"
as a quiet, well-meaning guy discovers the busty woman of his
dreams is a TV junkie during a frustrating evening at
home.
Sexual obsession can only end badly for a
buppie with a mind-numbing attraction for a pretty TV talking
head in Kalamu ya Salaam's timely "The Roses Are Beautiful,
but the Thorns Are So Sharp." In "The Rumor;"
Alexs D. Pate uses a dash of magic realism to dispel the
complaints of naysayers in a black community about the power of
love and physical bliss. The trials and travails of an African
American man in his late twenties seeking to lose his virginity
with mixed results is the subject of horror writer Brandon
Massey's "The Question."
A woman celebrates the fifteenth year of an
ongoing affair with her energetic lover in a public display of
lust in Robert Scott Adams's "Where Strangers Meet."
Clarence Major; a leading African American wordsmith and one of
the early pioneers of black erotica, offers a sensational
tour-de-force in a sexual stream-of-consciousness hymn to oral
gratification, "Anita," excerpted from his
groundbreaking 1969 Olympia Press classic novel,
All-Night
Visitors. Gary Phillips, creator of the popular Ivan Monk PI
series and the Martha Chainey mystery novels, contributes a very
hot yet bizarre story of anything goes sex, blackmail, and
murder in a noir caper; "Wild Thang." For fans of the
Monk stories, you've never seen the sleuth like this before.
Closing the collection is Colin Channer's lyrical yet highly
erotic meditation, "Revolution," the story of an
elderly white author's surreal infatuation and ruthless pursuit
of the beautiful mistress of reggae legend, Bob Marley.
Erotica, especially black erotica, can hold a
mirror to the mores and morals of a people, a culture, or a
generation. While reading After Hours, you may find yourself
discovering some new personal and sexual truths between the
moans and aftershocks pr6duced by the words and images. It's all
right to think, dream, and fantasize about these things. But the
bottom line here is that it is better to live, love, and enjoy
all that life offers. Come read and enjoy what a few gifted
black men have to say about love, sex, and intimacy! Have fun!
Robert Fleming * *
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updated 9 October 2007 |
