"Body and Soul" by Stephanie (an266891@anon.penet.fi). Many TG (transgender) stories pursue the theme of a man changing from his own body and personality into that of a woman. This one has several new twists: the man has died in an automobile accident but is given an opportunity to return to earth to take part in a special project that involves rehabilitating a man who has started to go bad. To participate, he must allow his soul to return in the body and personality of a woman. A final complication is that there are two agents actively opposing the rehab process: the devil himself and a man who has sold his soul to the devil in return for being permitted to live in the body of a voluptuous young woman. Both of these evil agents possess the power to hypnotize others and make them engage in activities they would normally resist; however, this power is not absolute, and one of the interesting aspects of the story is determining how the protagonists can deal with and overcome this influence. With so many competing forces at work it would seem likely that either the story would get crazily complex or that it would get lost on a non-sexy sidetrack. Neither predicament occurs: I found this to be a highly imaginative and very erotic story.

Readers who are knowledgeable about the TG tradition will respond to this story differently than "outsiders" who pick this up and simply read it as a story that they expect to contain sex. The latter will perhaps find novelty in the idea of a man beginning to understand himself anew after being thrust into the body and personality of a woman. Actually, that's one of the most common themes in TG literature; and people who read TG stories regularly will automatically compare this story to others that examine this problem of sexual identity. Both types of readers will enjoy this story.

There are numerous interesting situations that emerge as this complex plot evolves, and I am going to make no attempt to summarize all of them in this review. For example, Dan (the guy who became the wife) is required to rehabilitate Simon, who is a chronic drinker, gambler, and womanizer; but Dan initially does not want to engage in sexual activity with Simon, because Dan himself still has a male personality within his new body and has strong inhibitions against homosexual activity. As a way to resolve the dilemma of changing Simon's behavior without having sex with a man, Dan blackmails Simon into wearing panties, stockings, and a bra every day. This should keep Simon out of trouble, because he will be embarrassed to fool around with bimbos, and getting drunk could cause him to reveal his little secret. However, an unexpected result of this cross-dressing is that Dan becomes turned on to Simon. This story is full of numerous situations like this - intricate but interesting dilemmas that occur as a result of the structure of the story.

I especially liked the way the author combined the protagonist's knowledge and ignorance about the feelings and emotions of the woman whose body he inhabited.

The story ended somewhat abruptly - almost as if the author were saying, "Well, I've carried this plot about as far as it will go, and so I had better stop now."

A slight problem with the story is that it really did need a final proofreading. It is full of minor but distracting errors - especially comma splices, Stephanie combines two sentences into one by simply putting a comma between them (like this one, which I did on purpose to offer an example). One of you who enjoys this story should write to Stephanie and tell her that you would be happy to proofread her future stories for her. Stephanie is a very creative person, and I understand (1) that it's difficult to find one's own grammar errors, especially when one is wrapt up in the more interesting process of composing a creative tale; and (2) that an author often has an irresistible urge to rush a story to press, so that millions of eager readers can share the story without unnecessary delay. Write to Stephanie and tell her Celeste sent you. Tell her that you love her stories and promise to read them overnight, and agree to return the stories with so little delay and with such careful attention to detail that she'll be glad to have waited the extra day or so. How could she resist such an offer?