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Nymph
Young adult novelist Block ("I Was a Teenage Fairy, " 1998) moves into the adult market in a series of unusual tales tied together by lyrical sex.
Francesca Lia Block's edgy tales of the Los Angeles dreamscape that is 'Shangri-L.A.' have thrilled millions of readers and literary critics alike. The author of Weetzie Bat, Dangerous Angels, The Rose and the Beast, and several other best-selling books here brings her sensual, dream-like fantasies full circle with this erotic work for adult readers, NYMPH.
As in her other works, Block weaves together themes of subtle magic, youthful hopes, modern urban decay, and deep emotion, told with lyrical storybook language.The stories in NYMPH bear all the hallmarks of classic Francesca Lia Block--punk spirited characters who celebrate love, life, and art-- with one important different: this time the author carries her vision through the full range of emotion and erotic interaction that her mature audience appreciates.
An interconnected series of stories, NYMPH is a special journey through the lives and loves of characters like Plum, a Crayon-haired girl who has a gift: if she makes love with a person, that person will then meet their true love, or Tom, a burned out surfer whose luck changes when he is rescued by a mysterious, wheelchair-bound woman, or Sylvie, a chronically depressed poet who finds beauty in unexpected places. Block's erotic explorations of these smoky, kaleidoscopic fables are anything but conventional; these are stories of love, loss, and life, about the healing power of sex and bonding.
Francesca Lia Block's edgy tales of the Los Angeles dreamscape that is 'Shangri-L.A.' have thrilled millions of readers and literary critics alike. The author of Weetzie Bat, Dangerous Angels, The Rose and the Beast, and several other best-selling books here brings her sensual, dream-like fantasies full circle with this erotic work for adult readers, NYMPH.
As in her other works, Block weaves together themes of subtle magic, youthful hopes, modern urban decay, and deep emotion, told with lyrical storybook language.The stories in NYMPH bear all the hallmarks of classic Francesca Lia Block--punk spirited characters who celebrate love, life, and art-- with one important different: this time the author carries her vision through the full range of emotion and erotic interaction that her mature audience appreciates.
An interconnected series of stories, NYMPH is a special journey through the lives and loves of characters like Plum, a Crayon-haired girl who has a gift: if she makes love with a person, that person will then meet their true love, or Tom, a burned out surfer whose luck changes when he is rescued by a mysterious, wheelchair-bound woman, or Sylvie, a chronically depressed poet who finds beauty in unexpected places. Block's erotic explorations of these smoky, kaleidoscopic fables are anything but conventional; these are stories of love, loss, and life, about the healing power of sex and bonding.
124 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2000
10 people are currently reading
1598 people want to read
About the author
Francesca Lia Block
99 books3,384 followersFrancesca Lia Block is the author of more than twenty-five books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry. She received the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association and from the New York Times Book Review, School Library Journal and Publisher’s Weekly. She was named Writer-in-Residence at Pasadena City College in 2014. Her work has been translated into Italian, French, German Japanese, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish and Portuguese. Francesca has also published stories, poems, essays and interviews in The Los Angeles Times, The L.A. Review of Books, Spin, Nylon, Black Clock and Rattle among others. In addition to writing, she teaches creative writing at University of Redlands, UCLA Extension, Antioch University, and privately in Los Angeles where she was born, raised and currently still lives.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
October 19, 2012
This very rarely happens to me. I have read a Francesca Lia Block book that I did not like. I've read nearly all of her ENOURMOUS output and this is only the second book that I well and truly did not like. Let's hope that it stays that way.
This is an erotic short story collection. Ms. Block normally writes for the YA market (but any adult could and often does read her work) and this was her highly trumpeted first major work for the grown-ups as it were. When it was published a lot of ink was written about Block finally not going to fade out during her sex scenes. Frankly I wish she had never written this book.
Don't get me wrong, no one, NO ONE, writes emotion like she does. No one can make you feel their characters to the point where it can be dificult to figure out where they end and you begin like she does. And the first two stories, were amazing. Stunning. Classic F.L. Block at her best. After reading those two I was convinced that it was all going to be another wonderful reading experience for me.
Then I read the rest of the book.
This has got to be one of THE most depressing books that I've ever read in my life. Block has had a very public battle with depression and anorexia and she's written very honestly, and beautifully, about these issues. However, this entire thing, save for the first two stories, reads as though it was written during the depths of a depressive episode wherein she locked herself in her closet and wrote an interconnected short story collection. By the time I finished this book I felt heavy, sad, depressed and angry. All I wanted to do was sit and look out the window, and not in a good way.
These are the least sexy and saddest erotic romance stories I've ever read in my life!
Do not judge Francesca Lia Block's work on this book alone. If you do you will miss out on one of the best writers publishing today. Just... skip this book.
There is one character, Plum, who took the cake as far as wanting to make the reader slit their own wrists. She has the "love gift" after she has sex with someone, they then leave her to find the person of their dreams. She gets so dissasociated with her own body and sex and ends up just seeing love and sex as gifts she gives to others, not something she fully recives herself.
A few of the men she falls for end up realizing they are gay after having sex with her! A woman finds the perfect guy, person after person leaves her! I nearly ended up crying for her. And I hardly ever shed a tear when I read a book. Plum's saga was the most godawful depressing fictional thing I've ever read in my life. It was phenominaly written, but I NEVER want to read it again.
Tale after tale of depressing, sacrificing sex. That's nearly the whole book. Wonderously written, but sad as hell to read.
This is an erotic short story collection. Ms. Block normally writes for the YA market (but any adult could and often does read her work) and this was her highly trumpeted first major work for the grown-ups as it were. When it was published a lot of ink was written about Block finally not going to fade out during her sex scenes. Frankly I wish she had never written this book.
Don't get me wrong, no one, NO ONE, writes emotion like she does. No one can make you feel their characters to the point where it can be dificult to figure out where they end and you begin like she does. And the first two stories, were amazing. Stunning. Classic F.L. Block at her best. After reading those two I was convinced that it was all going to be another wonderful reading experience for me.
Then I read the rest of the book.
This has got to be one of THE most depressing books that I've ever read in my life. Block has had a very public battle with depression and anorexia and she's written very honestly, and beautifully, about these issues. However, this entire thing, save for the first two stories, reads as though it was written during the depths of a depressive episode wherein she locked herself in her closet and wrote an interconnected short story collection. By the time I finished this book I felt heavy, sad, depressed and angry. All I wanted to do was sit and look out the window, and not in a good way.
These are the least sexy and saddest erotic romance stories I've ever read in my life!
Do not judge Francesca Lia Block's work on this book alone. If you do you will miss out on one of the best writers publishing today. Just... skip this book.
There is one character, Plum, who took the cake as far as wanting to make the reader slit their own wrists. She has the "love gift" after she has sex with someone, they then leave her to find the person of their dreams. She gets so dissasociated with her own body and sex and ends up just seeing love and sex as gifts she gives to others, not something she fully recives herself.
A few of the men she falls for end up realizing they are gay after having sex with her! A woman finds the perfect guy, person after person leaves her! I nearly ended up crying for her. And I hardly ever shed a tear when I read a book. Plum's saga was the most godawful depressing fictional thing I've ever read in my life. It was phenominaly written, but I NEVER want to read it again.
Tale after tale of depressing, sacrificing sex. That's nearly the whole book. Wonderously written, but sad as hell to read.
September 15, 2019
Nymph is a collection of intertwined short stories. It starts with a quote from Ovid's Metamorphosis, "My intention is to tell of bodies changed to different forms." That quote is not only the underlying theme, but also hints at the mythical feeling infusing all of Francesca Lia Block's writings. The erotic and fantastic, the far-fetched, and the everyday with a twist are all combined. At the heart of the stories is a woman named Plum. She has the love gift, which benefits everyone but her. Shortly after having sex with her, each person finds the man or woman of his or her dreams.
In Milagro, she has sex with her closest male friend, Santiago, and discovers a secret about him that she really knew all along. In Nymph, Plum has sex with her closest female friend, Sylvie, to ease her pain and loneliness. An aging surfer dude loses his edge in Mer, but regains it with a mythical lover. In Spirit, the spirits of lovers long dead enliven the nearly dead sex life of a married couple. A sexy nurse and a dying young man fuck like there's no tomorrow in Milk. A woman tries to escape from being the object of men's fantasies in Goddess. Change is about the opposite; a woman wishes that she could be all of the beautiful women in the world while having sex with her boyfriend. In Fox, a sex therapist has to deal with urgently pressing ethical issues. In the story bearing her own name, Plum meets the man who may be the one to end her gift.
The stories are typical of Block. They're oozing with ultra swanky hipness and girlish dreaminess, yet are surprisingly and graphically sexual in content. The sinister atmosphere of Goddess, the pornographic sappiness of Milk, the surreal nostalgia of Mer, and the overlapping lives of the characters are all brought together with a smooth precision. I read Nymph all the way through, but the stories are also strongly independent of each other. Hopefully, Block will write more for adults in the future.
In Milagro, she has sex with her closest male friend, Santiago, and discovers a secret about him that she really knew all along. In Nymph, Plum has sex with her closest female friend, Sylvie, to ease her pain and loneliness. An aging surfer dude loses his edge in Mer, but regains it with a mythical lover. In Spirit, the spirits of lovers long dead enliven the nearly dead sex life of a married couple. A sexy nurse and a dying young man fuck like there's no tomorrow in Milk. A woman tries to escape from being the object of men's fantasies in Goddess. Change is about the opposite; a woman wishes that she could be all of the beautiful women in the world while having sex with her boyfriend. In Fox, a sex therapist has to deal with urgently pressing ethical issues. In the story bearing her own name, Plum meets the man who may be the one to end her gift.
The stories are typical of Block. They're oozing with ultra swanky hipness and girlish dreaminess, yet are surprisingly and graphically sexual in content. The sinister atmosphere of Goddess, the pornographic sappiness of Milk, the surreal nostalgia of Mer, and the overlapping lives of the characters are all brought together with a smooth precision. I read Nymph all the way through, but the stories are also strongly independent of each other. Hopefully, Block will write more for adults in the future.
August 9, 2008
I am a huge Block fan, and was happy when this book was finally available at my library. When I first started reading this, I was unimpressed. This is an erotica book that is comprised of nine stories-- the first two, Mer and Spirits, were like Block; the language lacked perhaps, but the general tools, message, and plot were the same. They were also hot, but something was lacking. But once I hit Milagro, the fourth story, I was hooked! By this point the author is employing the over-decedent language expected of ehr to tell nine tales, most of which are thinly and beautifully collected, about countless fantasies and lovers; there are situations for all sexual appetites, including therapist-patient fantisesies, nurse-patient realities, dominance, girl-girl, and multiple more. Not only were the stories arousing they were beautifully written, and touching in that way only Block has. SO much so, that some of the plots echo those of earlier novels-- for example, the plot of "Goddess," with the girl who is somewhat magically captured by a man named Wonder, echos that of another of her novels-- perhaps something in the Dangerous Angel series, I cannot remember. My one complaint besides the slow build up is the out of placed feeling of "Carmelita," the finishing story, which does not connect to any of the other tales in any way that I could see. I enjoyed the story, but I did not feel it belonged there. If you are an old Block fan, or need a new author to follow, or want to read some fantasy modern stuff, or just want some hot scenes, read this book!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 2, 2015
The first two stories, "Mer" and "Spirit" are beautifully written and legitimately great (and hot), but once a nurse goes down on a dying cancer patient it's all downhill from there. (Apparently Nurse Karen Milk likes to wear a white garter belt under her scrubs. Good to know.) I know these are based on fairy tales, but it just gets all improbably ridiculous, with blindingly white rich skinny girls mucking about LA and banging their BFFs named Plum and guys named... Elvis Dean. Okay. After a while it began to read like Grand Theft Auto V with Faery Sex Magick added. No thanks.
December 9, 2009
I just can't say enough nice things about this magical book of literary smut from one of my favorite writers of surreal, semi-fantasy fiction. Parts of it are fantastical; other parts are merely modern slice-of-life erotica, but it all has a dreamlike, evocative, otherworldly character to it. Like Block's young adult fiction, it's always surprising, endlessly puzzling, deeply unsettling and out-and-out gorgeous. There is no way to describe this book except to make you sit down and read it. Go.
February 12, 2017
Francesca Lia Block always does some beautiful, magical things with language. But let me summarize every story for you: a person is broken and a special sexual encounter heals them. Also, the only gay sex act described is performed as a magic spell to get a heterosexual couple together.
January 3, 2020
Block provides a short story erotica collection utilizing her signature fantastical realism prose and interlocking short stories. Readers will enjoy the fast-pace (the stories are brief and the book itself is a shorter read), the descriptive language that nods to mythology, and the powerful emotion in each story. Block's writing style will not be for everyone, as there is a lot of blurring between reality and fantasy instead of straight-forward dialogue/plot.
Tropes: mainly m/f short story romances with some LGBTQ+ characters/relationships; NOT a slow burn--totally not a slow burn; crude language and sex throughout; patient/doctor or patient/nurse romance; unrequited love; death of loved ones; sex/love through magic.
Heat rating: NUCLEAR—explicit sex, indelicate language during sex, and graphic depictions of a sexual nature used to further the story; may also include light kink; not quite enough for an EXPLICIT level (5), but takes it a level past HOT (3).
*Note: I'm rereading all of the romances that I read/reviewed before I implemented the heat rating system. Read below for a blast from the past review--when the book was apparently mis-shelved in the library's YA section!
***
Block gives another set of short stories that intertwine to make a fabulous read. She keeps up with her past books in that she uses various myths to create points about her modern characters. The book is entertaining, but it's very much erotica and I wasn't expecting her to be so explicit. In comparison to some of her other books, which are also very sexy at times, this book is much more graphic. I can just hear the parents pushing for it to be removed from that shelves and placed in the adult section. It's nothing racier that anything that I read in fan fiction when I was the target age group, but I don't think a lot of adults would understand that. So for me, I loved that book but I think that the marketing is slightly problematic. It's definitely something that advanced readers can look at though, so I don't think that it should be removed, just that we should advise a little more.
Tropes: mainly m/f short story romances with some LGBTQ+ characters/relationships; NOT a slow burn--totally not a slow burn; crude language and sex throughout; patient/doctor or patient/nurse romance; unrequited love; death of loved ones; sex/love through magic.
Heat rating: NUCLEAR—explicit sex, indelicate language during sex, and graphic depictions of a sexual nature used to further the story; may also include light kink; not quite enough for an EXPLICIT level (5), but takes it a level past HOT (3).
*Note: I'm rereading all of the romances that I read/reviewed before I implemented the heat rating system. Read below for a blast from the past review--when the book was apparently mis-shelved in the library's YA section!
***
Block gives another set of short stories that intertwine to make a fabulous read. She keeps up with her past books in that she uses various myths to create points about her modern characters. The book is entertaining, but it's very much erotica and I wasn't expecting her to be so explicit. In comparison to some of her other books, which are also very sexy at times, this book is much more graphic. I can just hear the parents pushing for it to be removed from that shelves and placed in the adult section. It's nothing racier that anything that I read in fan fiction when I was the target age group, but I don't think a lot of adults would understand that. So for me, I loved that book but I think that the marketing is slightly problematic. It's definitely something that advanced readers can look at though, so I don't think that it should be removed, just that we should advise a little more.
June 13, 2007
Nymph is a book of erotic short stories, not a young adult book really. The stories are different than the usual "erotic" stories for two reasons: One, they are generally fantastical in some aspect; and two, they in very small ways interact with each other. The only thing I don't like about it is the fact that once in a while the coarse terminology for sexual acts and body parts cuts into the beauty of her poetic writing. I am not generally a fan of sex stories, but Ms. Block made them not only tolerable but enjoyable. "Mer" is the story of a man who has a sexual and loving relationship with a woman who is apparently a mermaid. "Spirit" is a story of a woman whose antidepressants cause sexual disinterest, to the dismay of her lover . . . and how they eventually resolve the problem with the help of a "vacant," condemned house. "Milk" is about a nurse and her relationship with her patients. "Milagro" is about Plum, and what happens when she makes love to Santiago in order to let him find his true love. "Nymph" is about a girl (the best friend of Plum) named Sylvie, who feels like she will never find her true love, and what Plum does to help her do so. "Goddess" is about a club where the women are surgically changed to be exotic, and how Elvis finds his old lover in this place. "Plum" is about Plum again, and how she wants love for herself. "Fox" is about Elvis and his obsession with his girlfriend (before he found her again), and how Dr. Jacqui Fox helps him with fantasies. "Change" is about Carmelita and her jealousy, her writing, and herself.
August 20, 2024
It's probably not good when the only problem you have with a collection of erotica is...well, the supposed erotica itself. It's just...well...not erotic. It's like someone told Block that "it counts as erotica if you say 'fuck' and 'cock' when they're doing it", and just...does it? Really? There's no build up, there's no foreplay, there's just FLB's usual beautiful, lyrical storytelling and then two people are having incredibly same-y (hetero) sex between a pair of same-y bodies-- if you've read one of these scenes, you've read them all. Erotica doesn't become magically awesome just because you say hee-hee-naughty words while describing the proceedings, especially if the proceedings are just "he gave her a horny look then her nipples got hard and then he put his cock in her". It's fucking DULL...if you'll excuse the pun.
(Also, good LORD can we please stop with the whole "nipples = erectile tissue" BS. Folks, it's more than okay if your nipples kind of just...do nothing during sex, even if you're so turned on you can't think straight. All bodies are different and react differently to different stimuli. Which one would think would be an interesting thing to explore in erotica, but hey.)
(Also, good LORD can we please stop with the whole "nipples = erectile tissue" BS. Folks, it's more than okay if your nipples kind of just...do nothing during sex, even if you're so turned on you can't think straight. All bodies are different and react differently to different stimuli. Which one would think would be an interesting thing to explore in erotica, but hey.)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 16, 2009
Francesca's go at erotica. Otherworldly and fun.
May 29, 2022
I've reread this book more times then I can count. When I get into a reading slump I grab one Francesca Lia Bloock's books and they always help.
December 30, 2020
Overall, these erotic short stories were fine, but they were nothing special.
December 6, 2018
The books description says that Nymph by Francesca Lia Block is “anything but conventional.” I feel that this is an understatement.
Block is known for her lyrical writing set in a world that is part Los Angeles, CA and partly a fantastical world of fairies, centaurs and mermaids. Her collection of erotic short stories is unlike any romance or erotica I’ve read before.
Each chapter is a tale of two lovers who connect in a way that leads the reader to believe there is more to each coupling than the physical; that there is a spiritual connection as well. The connection is strengthened because each character is interconnected either by past lovers, sibling or friendships. Block weaves an intricate web with the lives of her characters.
Not only is the telling unconventional but the characters are as well. Starting with Mer, the mermaid, who falls in love with a ex-pro-surfer, Tom Mac. The beautiful and seductive Plum, who helps her friends and loved ones find their soul mate even though it can break her heart. Then there is Coco who works at a strip club full of creatures that were once women but now are made to look like strange goddesses with wings or many arms or cat faces.
Block does a good job mixing romance and erotica with a bit of tragedy. She relieves each character with orgasms and happy endings. My only complaint might be that the one girl on girl tale involves one of the characters thinking of a guy the whole time, which, for a fan of lesbian romance, is a little disappointing.
I give this book a 4 out of 5 rating. It not only pulls at my heart strings and makes me hot and bothered but I can also read it to my husband and, 1 chapter in, he’s ready to go. I recommend it to anyone who likes erotica.
Block is known for her lyrical writing set in a world that is part Los Angeles, CA and partly a fantastical world of fairies, centaurs and mermaids. Her collection of erotic short stories is unlike any romance or erotica I’ve read before.
Each chapter is a tale of two lovers who connect in a way that leads the reader to believe there is more to each coupling than the physical; that there is a spiritual connection as well. The connection is strengthened because each character is interconnected either by past lovers, sibling or friendships. Block weaves an intricate web with the lives of her characters.
Not only is the telling unconventional but the characters are as well. Starting with Mer, the mermaid, who falls in love with a ex-pro-surfer, Tom Mac. The beautiful and seductive Plum, who helps her friends and loved ones find their soul mate even though it can break her heart. Then there is Coco who works at a strip club full of creatures that were once women but now are made to look like strange goddesses with wings or many arms or cat faces.
Block does a good job mixing romance and erotica with a bit of tragedy. She relieves each character with orgasms and happy endings. My only complaint might be that the one girl on girl tale involves one of the characters thinking of a guy the whole time, which, for a fan of lesbian romance, is a little disappointing.
I give this book a 4 out of 5 rating. It not only pulls at my heart strings and makes me hot and bothered but I can also read it to my husband and, 1 chapter in, he’s ready to go. I recommend it to anyone who likes erotica.
July 28, 2023
the writing was okay. i would get confused at the scenes that led up to the smut, or wtv you wanna call it. i did like the metaphors she made about the ocean and loving. i like the way she described the settings. other than that there wasn’t much too this book. maybe i misinterpreted but yeah idk.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 28, 2025
It's a fantastic beach read. I love the romance and exploration of kinks, and I'm also fond of the way things don't always go as planned. Intimacy between friends, mixed-ability bodies, and figuring out sexuality were all really interesting to me. Would read again!
November 11, 2020
This was straight up erotica which I did not realize when I got it. However I still enjoyed the stories because they had Block's original voice that seriously acts like a magic spell.
August 1, 2023
an unconventional, weird and horny compilation of fever dreams
October 8, 2024
beautiful and sensual and magical. feels like how watching Moonstruck for the first time made me feel.
November 4, 2024
I don't know who this was written for, but it wasn't for me.
January 26, 2025
had to find this online cos it’s literally NOWHERE sexy & folkloric & sandy & slick
April 12, 2025
This was recommended to me by someone I won't be talking to anymore
did-not-finish
May 28, 2025In a word: Boring.
I read the first story and part of the second and it didn't hold my interest. No plot. Flat characters. Not for me.
I read the first story and part of the second and it didn't hold my interest. No plot. Flat characters. Not for me.
February 2, 2026
you know what i actually really enjoyed this even tho it was a bit depressing. and i have a feeling that i'll like her other works even more than i did this.
October 28, 2023
I read this book the year I turned 20. This year I turned 40.
I won't change my rating because I think there's something true and pure about my feelings regarding this work at the time, my memory of those feelings all the years later when I marked this read on Goodreads. But I was not even 20 when I read this. I'm 40 now.
I was 19 when I read this. I love Block's prose. I have always been enchanted with the fairy tale of LA she lives in. I've been there, the real LA. My aunt lives there. I went in the summers, twice. I dreamed of moving there but it was not a fairy tale. But I was 19 and this book felt like a myth I could slide into if only I was more like these girls.
But the closest I was with my Black skin and hips and breasts was Coco and Coco was not treated well in this book. I don't think I noticed at 19-turning-20-that-year so wrapped up in what I wasn't I failed to see what things were. And maybe I was just young and didn't know enough of the world, didn't understand it. Maybe I was a 19 year old Black girl who didn't even know that Black girls should be treated well. But.
I'm older now and I see things differently and I wish this story was different. I wish she had gotten love like everyone else. I wish she wasn't portrayed as using love as a means to an end. I wish Elvis Dean had found her, realized how he had failed to believe in her and made it up to her, saved her with a love not marked by resentment. I wish the magic that's all throughout Block's work had been there for her and melted the surgeries and returned her to before. I wish that the love she needed was love for herself and could have saved all the goddesses. I wish she hadn't just died, off screen, no story but the damage she did to her lover, who did not believe in her. I wish her name wasn't fucking Coco.
But this is the story, this is the book, and it is forever written as it was when I was 19 but I am 40 now and there are other stories.
I won't change my rating because I think there's something true and pure about my feelings regarding this work at the time, my memory of those feelings all the years later when I marked this read on Goodreads. But I was not even 20 when I read this. I'm 40 now.
I was 19 when I read this. I love Block's prose. I have always been enchanted with the fairy tale of LA she lives in. I've been there, the real LA. My aunt lives there. I went in the summers, twice. I dreamed of moving there but it was not a fairy tale. But I was 19 and this book felt like a myth I could slide into if only I was more like these girls.
But the closest I was with my Black skin and hips and breasts was Coco and Coco was not treated well in this book. I don't think I noticed at 19-turning-20-that-year so wrapped up in what I wasn't I failed to see what things were. And maybe I was just young and didn't know enough of the world, didn't understand it. Maybe I was a 19 year old Black girl who didn't even know that Black girls should be treated well. But.
I'm older now and I see things differently and I wish this story was different. I wish she had gotten love like everyone else. I wish she wasn't portrayed as using love as a means to an end. I wish Elvis Dean had found her, realized how he had failed to believe in her and made it up to her, saved her with a love not marked by resentment. I wish the magic that's all throughout Block's work had been there for her and melted the surgeries and returned her to before. I wish that the love she needed was love for herself and could have saved all the goddesses. I wish she hadn't just died, off screen, no story but the damage she did to her lover, who did not believe in her. I wish her name wasn't fucking Coco.
But this is the story, this is the book, and it is forever written as it was when I was 19 but I am 40 now and there are other stories.
July 30, 2014
A collection of fantastical erotica stories, some of which interact with each other and tease meaning out of alternate perspectives. There are sensual mermaids, spiritual presences in "abandoned" houses, professionals who cross certain boundaries to the delight of their clients, and a woman who can find love no matter where it hides but cannot keep it for herself. Every act of love is infused with everyday magic, and sex is both enchanting and enchanted.
The ideas were a treat as usual, with Block's typical fluid language and poetic descriptions and occasional glitz-glam sequined background. The sexual scenes (which were plentiful) often seemed remote, though; plot pushed characters together, then backed up and told us to trust that they were into each other. There were a few times that I believed it, but most of the time I didn't sense the connection very well. Scenes with two women together seemed a bit cold to me. I felt like much of the time it was just put on a plate for me to admire the aesthetic but not to feel the connection. I still enjoyed the imagination and the interwoven stories.
The ideas were a treat as usual, with Block's typical fluid language and poetic descriptions and occasional glitz-glam sequined background. The sexual scenes (which were plentiful) often seemed remote, though; plot pushed characters together, then backed up and told us to trust that they were into each other. There were a few times that I believed it, but most of the time I didn't sense the connection very well. Scenes with two women together seemed a bit cold to me. I felt like much of the time it was just put on a plate for me to admire the aesthetic but not to feel the connection. I still enjoyed the imagination and the interwoven stories.
August 14, 2016
I am a big fan of Francesca Lia Block. As in if she published a book today, upon opening up the first few pages and looking at the list of her "Other Works" I could actually say that I have read Every. Single. Book. On that list. What I like about this book is the interconnectivity of it. Sure, this is a work of magical realism erotica. But this is magical realism erotica by FRANCESCA LIA BLOCK. And of course she is going to do something cool and different with it. This may be hard to explain but here goes: so it's a collection of short stories, but each story focuses on a character that played a (mostly) minor role in the previous one. So the first story is about a surfer named Mac and a "girl" named Mer. Then the next story focuses on something completely different a poet named Sylv and her boyfriend Ben, but Sylv and Ben are connected to Mac and Mer because they reconnect in the love house inhabited by the main characters in the previous story. And then Sylv's main role is gone, but the characters in the next book are connected to her via her brother. So all the characters inhabit their own space, but at the same time they are connected to each other if very loosely.
July 1, 2011
This is probably one of the few Francesca Lia Block books that I didn't have a mind-bending issue with after reading it for the first time. It still has that distinctive Block touch about it, and it definitely has that majestic, mystical, faerie-magic tint all over it, but it flows in a chronological order and it's easy to follow.
These stories, like most of Block's short stories, flow into each other. They're all linked, except the finale, which I felt was the low point of the series. I liked wondering how the next story was going to link in with the rest, how it was going to relate. So when the final short story didn't fit in at all, I was let down.
Still, this is a beautiful book, and perhaps one of my top ranking FLB books.
These stories, like most of Block's short stories, flow into each other. They're all linked, except the finale, which I felt was the low point of the series. I liked wondering how the next story was going to link in with the rest, how it was going to relate. So when the final short story didn't fit in at all, I was let down.
Still, this is a beautiful book, and perhaps one of my top ranking FLB books.
July 28, 2015
Francesca Lia Block ist eine ganz besondere Autorin. Sie erzählt nicht einfach Geschichten, sie webt eine Welt tiefer Schönheit und magischer Anziehungskraft.
Die erotischen Erzählungen sind alle irgendwie miteinander verknüpft. Alle Figuren tragen Wunden ihrer Vergangenheit in sich- doch wie schwer ihr Schicksal auch wiegt, sie erleben Glück und Liebe in seiner reinsten Form und verwandeln sich und ihr Schicksal in etwas, das sie über alles Erlebte hinaushebt. Und das ist es auch, was ich an Francesca Lia Blocks Arbeit so sehr liebe, egal wie dunkel und trübe der Alltag manchmal ist, mit dem Lesen ihrer Bücher kommt ein Stück Magie zurück.
Die erotischen Erzählungen sind alle irgendwie miteinander verknüpft. Alle Figuren tragen Wunden ihrer Vergangenheit in sich- doch wie schwer ihr Schicksal auch wiegt, sie erleben Glück und Liebe in seiner reinsten Form und verwandeln sich und ihr Schicksal in etwas, das sie über alles Erlebte hinaushebt. Und das ist es auch, was ich an Francesca Lia Blocks Arbeit so sehr liebe, egal wie dunkel und trübe der Alltag manchmal ist, mit dem Lesen ihrer Bücher kommt ein Stück Magie zurück.
May 26, 2022
Tom used to be a champion surfer until he nearly drowned. Now his girlfriend has left him, he's overweight, and he never leaves the house. He has a dream about a beautiful woman with sharp teeth and decides it's time to leave the house. Tom goes to the beach and he meets a woman just like the woman in his dream, she's in a wheelchair and has a shiny silver tail covering her legs. He takes her back to his house where she gives him oral sex, and he feels like she's rescued him. From then on he surfs every day, and lives with the woman in the wheelchair.
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