|
Return To the Celestial Review (This does NOT open a new window) Return To the Index (This does NOT open a new window) Note, to make reading multi-part stories easier, story links (links with dejanews.com or www.qz.to, NOT the review or profile links) will open up a new browser window. When you are done reading the story, or section of the story simply CLOSE the story window. |
|
"Private Dancer" by Steven A. Black (sex with a stripper). BitBard:
10, 9, 9
"Private Dancer" by Steven A. Black (sblack@mail.coin.missouri.edu). Guest review by BitBard (bitbard@newsguy.com). In "Private Dancer" a salesman loses his job and live-in girlfriend on the same day. He moves back to his hometown and mopes around a bit until he visits a strip joint. There he meets Sasha, a dancer at the club who is not only very beautiful but also very interested in our hero. It's obvious that these two need to get together, and they do. He gives her his address, she comes over and you can guess what happens then. Fade out. Five years pass. Fade in. They get hitched. I feel safe in telling you all that because it's really not giving anything away. There are no surprise twists and turns here. The reader can see what's cumming a mile away. Well maybe not the five years later part but there's a reason I'm including that in the summary. Within this rather predictable plot, the reader will discover a most excellently written story. The author does a great job creating and setting moods as well as settings and character. When the author applies these skills to the sex scenes the story explodes in vivid erotic imagery. The author takes a predictable plot and through sheer talent makes the story interesting and compelling. Yet it is that very same talent that proves to be the bane of this story. In creating the mood and background for the narrator's character the author touches upon subjects like the dangers of "open" relationships, the need for honesty in a relationship, and even the ups and downs of life itself. These touches create a fantastic opening mood. The problem is that these are very powerful subjects and this story really doesn't explore the issues it brings up. Granted this is a sex story and granted too this is a short story and whole books could be written about any one of those subjects; but I think the author missed the chance to really bind these issues together and say something beyond sex with a beautiful stripper is orgasmically good. In a way the story sets itself up to compare and contrast two relationships but then doesn't do either. We know why the first relationship failed; but beyond the fact that Sasha is a gorgeous babe and a really hot fuck, why did the second one work? The reader never has a chance to find out, because any answers the story may have are lost in the five year transition between their first fuck and their vows. Despite my disappointment with the plot, this remains an extraordinarily well written story with compelling writing and even more compelling sex. I *ENJOYED* this story. But I'm still left wondering how much better it could have been if only we had been allowed to peek into that five year gap. Ratings for "Private Dancer" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & character): 9 Bitbard (appeal to reviewer): 9 |