In the Forbidden City: An Anthology of Erotic Fiction by Italian Women

by Maria Rosa Cutrufelli (Editor)

For centuries, the stereotypical image of the voluptuous Italian woman has functioned as an object of desire for Western from sixteenth-century paintings of Venetian courtesans who modeled for the erotically charged canvases of Titian, Veronese, and Tintoretto, to nineteenth-century reports of the beautiful dancer Marie Taglioni, to the twentieth-century cinematic images of Sophia Loren and Dominique Sanda.

Now Italian women have turned the tables. With In the Forbidden City, translated from the Italian, acclaimed novelist Maria Rosa Cutrufelli brings together fourteen short erotic stories by contemporary Italian women writers. Well-established voices are juxtaposed with new ones; traditional forms provide a contrast with the experimental. In Sandra Petrignani's dialogue "Body" a women and a former lover engage in a heady debate about desire and indifference; Margherita Ciacobino delivers a tale of lesbian desire, a theme uncommon in Italian literature; Dacia Maraini writes on the literature of eroticism penned by women writers that ingeniously manages to be erotic in its own right; and Rossana Campo, in one of the most entertaining entries, offers a hip-rattling tri-logue on love voiced by some super-cool adolescents. In her introduction, Cutrufelli draws in even more writers such as Jean Baudrillard, Angela Carter, and Georges Bataille in her introductory essay on the theoretical issues of desire and seduction.

Now finally available to English readers, In the Forbidden City constitutes a breakthrough volume in literary erotica by Italian women that is both profound and engaging.

Genres: Womens, Erotica

170 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2000

About the author

Maria Rosa Cutrufelli è nata a Messina, ha studiato a Bologna e attualmente vive a Roma. Ha pubblicato otto romanzi, tre libri di viaggio, un libro per ragazzi e numerosi saggi. Fra i romanzi ricordiamo: La donna che visse per un sogno (finalista al premio Strega nel 2004), Complice il dubbio (da cui è stato tratto il film Le complici) e Il giudice delle donne (tutti pubblicati da Frassinelli). Il suo ultimo saggio è Scrivere con l’inchiostro bianco (Iacobelli). Ha curato antologie di racconti, scritto radiodrammi, collaborato a riviste e quotidiani nazionali. Ha fatto parte della redazione di “Noi Donne”, fondato e diretto la rivista “Tuttestorie” e insegnato Scrittura creativa all’Università La Sapienza di Roma. I suoi libri hanno vinto diversi premi e sono stati tradotti in una ventina di lingue.

Reviews

[Lilith Noir · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yet another book that defies star ratings.

This anthology was actually quite good, just not for me. I feel like the star ratings here are more to do with how you as a reader feel about a book, though, and I just did not enjoy this.

Maybe it's a cultural barrier. Pretty much every story in this book is about bad things happening. Bad sex, or sex that has terrible consequences. All the authors are skilled, so from a literary standpoint it's a solid collection (five stars!). From a "I feel good reading this" standpoint, there was way too much rape and murder (hence my two stars!).

These stories are all erotic in the broader sense of "They have something to do with sex" but not in the "I am going to read this and then masturbate" sense.

And that is why it took me pretty much forever to read this. I kept going for a palate cleanser between stories and reading a novel or two while I was sidetracked.

Beautiful cover, though. I do love a good cover!