Are LT Users Inhibited?

I have in mind specifically a reluctance to list erotic books.

Any thoughts?

Probably. I was disappointed to note that as well. I tried not to be. I posted most of those I can remember enjoying, many in my youth, which were devoured, and had to be traded away or whatever so as not to be discovered. Would love to go back and find some of those searingly educational passages. LOL. And to hear from others what kinds of things they might have picked up along the way.

A lot of members seem to have the more well known titles, e.g., Story of O and The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy, but the lesser known, obscure titles, there aren't many of those listed. I'm doing what I can to help the cause, though! :^)

I must be one of the few who has only listed those books in their wider collection that fit the Erotica description! I have another programme on my 'puter where I store ALL my library contents.

I created my profile and list here specifically to link to my blog which is of an erotic bent.

I must admit that my list is not complete as there are titles in storage I have yet to retrieve and add to the list as well as having many gaps - books I'd like to own but don't as yet. My collection (and my list) are definitely a work in progress!

In my LT catalog i list only books (and DVDs) actually physically in my library or are in digital form on my hard drive. At the moment, according to the above parameters, I don't have much erotica in my library at this time, but if I had more I would have absolutely no problem listing it.

I pretty much list everything (although I have at least one box I still need to get cataloged), but I don't know that not listing erotica is an indication of inhibition - perhaps more of caution regarding the risks of sharing data on the internet. People may want to share their libraries with people who would be offended by the presence of erotica. I can say that I definitely have not shared my screen name with my fundamentalist Christian sister. She'd probably never let me darken her door again if she knew some of the books I own/read (though the erotica would probably not be the ones that would most upset her . . .)

my library includes every book I own (as well as every book I have owned in the past few years) though I haven't tagged them very well yet. the erotic fiction I have has been fairly randomly acquired - I'd love to see a greater range of recommendations in this sub-genre here on LT so I know what to look for in the future.

Hi there, Free Lunch,

personally, I DO get also erotic/sexual books among the recommendations. I guess it stems from the fact that I have those books all tagged.

In your library, so I noticed, even undoubtful books like Eat Me, Vox, Lady Chatterleys Lover and others are not tagged as erotica or erotic fiction, whatever you like.

By the way, since we share more than 50 FICTION titles, perhaps you'll find some interesting titles in my onw library ...

Have Fun

BTW
You have Geisha twice in your list

I, too, get a lot of recommendations, freelunch.

It is interesting, as rcc hints, what is sometimes classed as erotica, and what is sometimes not. Possibly simply taste, of course, although my mouse has slipped enough times at entry stage to know this can be accidental! I'm finding a process of 'annealing' in action as I use my listings, as I make minor adjustments while doing other things.

its true, I haven't tagged my library very well yet (as mentioned above), I'm in the process of adding tags now and all should be done in a week or three.

I will check out your library, thanks rcc

and I have Memoirs Of A Geisha listed twice because I had two copies, though I've given both away (and hence they aren't part of my 'Your Library' collection) :)

I think I undersand, Cliff, and have been there myself. Our busy world of many windows creates so many diverting tangents that can cloud our focus on the primary task at hand. Something so simple can become surprisingly hard, and yes, slips do occur and lines blur.

Multi-tasking then amidst so many variables, seemingly equal in comparison, or amongst their seductive alternatives might weaken one's grasp, and make for fleeting results. Adjustments can be handily managed, as long as you can just maintain steady resolve to focus on the task and I think will make for gratifying endings.

RCC, our descriptively rich language and contextual nuances, along with the reader's moods and momentary expediency can also make permanent classification of a work as artistic or a vehicle nearly impossible. I guess the best thing is just to have fun with it, wherever it goes. I will watch for consensual comments on which might go where, and make an effort to do some tagging.

Just noticed his thread - ironically I actually joined LT to catalogue my erotica, and don't catalogue all my other books. It is a category slightly apart: I don't shelve my erotica where casual visitors will see it, or leave erotic photo books out on the coffee table.

As an erotica author, I'd love to catalogue more erotica on LT, and for more people to add it to their libraries. The problem for me is so much erotica is published as ebooks now. LT doesn't seem able to find them easily on Amazon, and there's a lot more complexities around using ISBNs. I've added some manually, but I don't have the time or patience to do it for everything in my library. LT doesn't always pick up if someone else has already added a book manually (or you find the book, click 'add to my library' and LT tries to send you back through the rigmarol of Amazon again which claims it doesn't exist) so you often end up with several versions of the same book each owned by only one person. I focus on books that either I'm involved in or close friends are involved in, and add others only in cases of extreme ennui!

I have to the best of my ability listed what I own and also what I think I have read. Obviously some titles alude me as they are often similar. They is also a list of books listed that were banned in South Africa, where I live, that cannot be classed as erotica but had a few erotic passages, that caused the banning in the first place. I have not found a suitable tag for them yet.

As regards your list LordBangholm (lol) how many maids can you spank.... it becomes a bit boring and repetitive.

I am the same as Lordbangholm my primary interest in Library thing was the find out more about the world of erotica and less spicy romance/historical fiction. Although as I have a lot on at the moment I have only added a handful of books and of those only a few you would call Erotica. Hopefully will rectify this soon. The only group that I am part of so far is this group. I find that whenever you mention you read erotica to people you know they get a panicked look on their face or start looking around - like who's listening. At least here you get a serious adult conversation without all the hang ups.

Well, Bergs, I'm not bored yet! Each to their own, though, and I'm equally interested in what other people find stimulating.

And, yes, it is good to have a place for hang-up free conversations.

Let us not forget the working definition of 'Erotica'; being that Erotica is written by Women, and Pornography is written by Men. Thus both 'The Story of O' and 'The Beauty Trilogy' were written by Women.
I have a non-fiction work written by Toni Bentley called 'The Surrender: An Erotic Memoir' (2004). This is, however, not your average erotic romance story, but rather a story about Erotic Obsession to the point of sexual Slavery. This it has in common with the first two works mentioned above.
This brings to mind something that I heard recently (literally, on NPR) that erotic fantasy stories are being published for free online in Japan, mostly by teenage girls. The truly interesting thing is that most of their fantasies involve a Gang-Rape of the narrator.
Let me recommend a classic erotic novel, which, however, is written by a Frenchman, Pierre Louys called 'The She Devils' '(Trois Filles De Leur Mere)' although this too involves young women who have little control over who enjoys them, or how. M. Louys also wrote 'The Songs of Bilitis' and 'Aphrodite'. In tune with the distinctly perverse practices of most of the above works, his stories are anything but 'Vanilla'.
The point that I am trying to make is that erotica written by men and read by women is labeled by women as 'pornography' by women because women always focus more on the emotional aspects of intercourse.

It may be a working definition, but if you actually check with erotica publishers you'll find a lot have a signficant proportion male authors on their books, some writing under female pseudonyms*. Personally, I'd say the definition lies in the amount of plot - erotica nearly always has a plot, while porn often doesn't. Most erotica falls under the romance category, which defines the kind of plot, but there's still scope of erotica without an HEA, as long as the sex makes sense within the confines of the story.

(the difference between Romance and Erotica, for those who may not see one, is that in erotica the sex is vital to the plot and drives it along, whereas in romance sex may be present but it's the relationship that drives the plot)

Teen girls have been writing explicit sex online for years, plenty of them outside of Japan. Check out fanfiction for series like Harry Potter and Twilight. Quite a few authors end up writing professionally in a variety of genres. The majority aren't rape fantasies though. However, these do get the biggest press as they're considered the most shocking. Well, when traditional media isn't being shocked by the existance of 'slash' (GLBT erotica), which they rediscover every six months as though they'd never heard of it before. ::eyeroll::

ePublishing has been a boon for erotica, since it's much easier for publishers to take risks (and no one can see what you're reading!). Most of the big ePublishers started out on erotica: Ellora's Cave, Samhain, Loose Id and so on. Even Harlequin/Mills&Boon are dipping their toes in the water with ePub imprint Carina. Whereas Science Fiction still baulks at this strange new world, the ex president of SFWA calling us all "pixel stained technopeasants" for posting online! Like I said before, I think the fact so many of the big erotica publishers are e-only, or e-focused, means it's much harder to add their books to LT even for those that want to. It's hard to tell if people are inhibited when it's the quirks of the system than inhibits them!

*on the one hand, I think this shouldn't be necessary, but on the other hand watching women take male names for decades to break in to most other genres, I feel a little bit vindicated!

The Erotica Vs. Pornography definition debate is surely a whole other thread, if people want to pursue it, though I'm afraid I don't find the subject at all interesting. (The only thing I do have to say on the subject is that I find that literary erotica and art-house erotic movies are more often brutal and depressing than less pretentious fantasies: there is a puritanical imperative that people must suffer and/or die to establish what used to be called 'redeeming moral value'.)

However, I am interested in the point about the disinhibiting effect of ePublishing and the growth of online erotica as offering a less potentially-embarrassing alternative to the good old fashioned dirty book. I definitely think there must be something in this. Plus, the chaotic anarchy of the web means that copyright characters can be anybody's, in any combination! The Literotica free fantasy exchange site is huge, and it's been around for a long time, but I'm sure there are lots of others.

>17 JimThomson:

This definition is surely simply mischievous, NKKingston, and doesn't really deserve serious consideration. Much closer to the truth is 'erotica is what I like, pornography is what I don't like', which has the benefit of matching the broader 'normal is what I like, perverted is what I don't like' approach to the whole of sex!

I prefer the phrase 'erotic literature', and avoid pornography. This way is specific to the written word, excluding still and moving photography, and art forms such as sculpture, drawing, and painting.

'erotica is what I like, pornography is what I don't like' - perfectly put!

"Pornography" is from a root referring to prostitution, therefore one might consider it a (somewhat pejorative) subset: mercenary erotica, as it were.

I don't like mercenary erotica it seems to imply that erotica is not written for money which is not usually true. I think I might prefer the term unartistic erotica since most pornography seems heavyhanded lacking any charm or feature except sex.

So, anyway, do we think that members are generally reluctant to list erotica?

I reckon the numbers suggest so.

The numbers might suggest a reluctance however it might also suggest disparate interpretations of what constitutes erotica. When looking at anything kinky for example, one discovers a fine line between what is kinky for one and what is "normal" for another. I tag a range of titles as erotica as I consider it to be a broad title...what is actually titillating (if this is what one would consider a feature of erotic literature) amongst all those titles is an altogether different can of worms.

Well, I believe that everything I have labeled as erotica was sold to me as erotica. That doesn't mean I consider all of it as erotic. As others are saying it is all in the point of view.

Is it the books themselves that you feel that people won't list or is it they have not tagged them as such? I have a fair amount of works that I have yet to tag as I cannot think of them as erotica , yet them have a number of fairly explicit passages in them that may be deemed to be erotic. Cliff you will understand this eg Molly parkins etc

>27 bergs47:

It's just the books. I find that for a disproportionately large proportion of what I add to my list I'm one of a very small minority, often on my own. I suspect that I have enough 'one owner' books in the list to challenge those for whom such a counting game assumes some importance.

I had an LT friend tell me that I was cool because I not only listed my porn (her words) but that I reviewed it.

@ Arctic Stranger

I try to make a comment or review in some form or another everything that I am listing now... I have yet to get back to commenting on or reviewing the older stuff - not enough time, I'm afraid! If a title on my Library list hasn't a review and I have read it recently, I will have more than likely given it a comment in my 50 books for the year thread...I guess I should really do some copying and pasting!

@CliffordDorset....I am in awe of the breadth of your collection Cliff, so it is not surprising that you are a "one owner" only for many of them! I manage to score a few of them myself but the number on my list could never begin to rival yours. It often surprises me that there are not more people with some of the titles I have listed...but you never can tell what people are prepared to acknowledge as owning.

OK, I'm going to make it a project to go through interesting libraries and add any unlisted erotica I possess, reviewing where I have the time.

Based solely on my own experience, I would lean more toward the lack of tags than the lack of actual listing. Every book I own is listed in my LT library and that includes all of the erotica. However, I've been more than a little lax in tagging and reviewing!

> 32

Me too ( i have your finz book). I just can't think of the right tags as most are not pure erotica but "trashy" novels with erotic passages.

Today's erotica and erotic romance is very different from yesteryear. Someone noted Anais Nin's work was more dreamy and sensual. Today, it's much more explicit. But still, there's a story (hopefully, if it's a good book! :) involved.

However, I've noticed a big difference between this place and say, GoodReads. They've got a huge erotica group over there focused on the Kindle that's very active, and they post books all the time.

If you're interested, we have lots (www.excessica.com) for your group to read/review! :)

The Goodreads group did my "Babysitting the Baumgartners" book (a coming of age story - very explicit - definitely sexy :) for their book club and enjoyed it immensely. (And it's currently only $1.78 on Amazon Kindle, where it's rated all-five-stars - and is currently #2 in erotica - you don't need a Kindle to read, you can download the PC or Mac reader... :)

I think reading on-screen (saw a topic on that here too, I'll post over there as well) affords a little more privacy when reading erotica. It appeals to a lot of people!

Anyway, just my two cents... ;)

xoxo
-Selena

Funny, I just started Babysitting the Baumgartners. So far, so good.

>#34 I checked out Babysitting the Baumgartners on Amazon and noticed that there are two versions/editions. One costs $1.78 and the other costs $5.99.

Selena, can you explain the difference to me. What do you get for $5.99 that you don't get for $1.78?

Thanks

There's no difference - except in price. It's just a glitch in the Amazon system. Buy the cheaper one - and enjoy!

You guys should do an erotic book club! Get everyone involved...erotica can be even more fun shared with a friend... ;)

Oh, I read it with my girl friend. Yes, much more fun that way!

(We just don't finish things)

Thanks Selena, I appreciate knowing what was going on. I have downloaded the book and am looking forward to reading it.

Why no mention of Casanova's and Harris's memoirs which like Melville's Moby Dick are interesting for being a mixed bag, no? And my The Woman Without a Hole is also somewhere in a not erotica nor porn but both and neither yet more. That book got a great academic review on the one hand and what I would call a folk review from someone in Merle Haggard's hometown on LT I just read the other day after coming back here after many years away. It could bear a review by someone not academic but truly well-read. (Best words about it are in a letter from the translator of Rochester into German. His poetry and for that matter more Bawdy verse is hard to define but fun to read, no?