High Risk: An Anthology of Forbidden Writings

by Amy Scholder

In an age of reality television that appears to have crossed all boundaries, it would seem that there are few subjects that haven't been broached. Yet, the provocative fiction, poetry and essays in High Risk explore the forbidden zones of illicit sex and obsessive behavior that few people dare. Fired by the conviction that art must be bound only by the limits of the imagination, the writers and artists featured in this collection, including William S. Burroughs, Dorothy Allison, and John Preston, fearlessly take on sadomasochism, prostitution, incest, drug use, bondage, and transsexuality. Uncompromisingly truthful, unusually explicit, and unfailingly adventurous, High Risk is an uncommon literary feat-a daring exploration of that culture of "otherness" that gives us our deepest sense of who we are and what we believe.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Queer, Dark, Drugs, Poetry

288 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1991

About the author

Amy Scholder was the editorial director of the Feminist Press for six years. She has also served as editor-in-chief of Seven Stories Press, US publisher of Verso, founding co-editor of HIGH RISK Books/Serpent’s Tail, and editor at City Lights Books. Over the years, she has published the work of Sapphire, Karen Finley, June Jordan, Kate Bornstein, Kathy Acker, David Wojnarowicz, Joni Mitchell, Jill Johnson, Kate Millett, Elfriede Jelinek, Muriel Rukeyser, Laurie Weeks, Justin Vivian Bond, Virginie Despentes, Ana Castillo, and many other award-winning authors. She lives in New York and Los Angeles.

Reviews

[karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

twaddle

[Paul Bryant]

So - an "anthology of forbidden writings" from 1991. I found it in my loft the other day. What will it be like?

Enter Maria, a young novice, dressed in baby blue vinyl S&M gear with miniskirt. As she herds her sheep the Austrian Alps ring with her merry song:

Uppers and downers and cruelty to kittens
Gays in black leather with warm woollen mittens
Gentlemen callers all tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored dildoes and forty-four lashes
Supernumary nipples and strange little rashes
Serial killers and transgendered flings
These are a few of my favorite things

[Casey Kiser · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding collection. My favorites were 'Diary of a Masochist' by Lynne Tillman, 'Just Say No to Drug Hysteria' by Burroughs, 'How to Kill Her' by Ana Maria Simo ,'The One Percent' by Cookie Mueller and the insanely epic 'Heavy Breathing' by Essex Hemphill.

From the introduction:
There is such enormous pressure to conform in this society, and those of us who reject these singular models of how to live, how to write, how to fuck, how to make art, are on the other side of the world.
We have new stories and new ways of telling them. Here are some of the most challenging writers from the other side. I read them as visionaries, not as role models, because we don't need heroes. We need inspiration to envision the expression of all desire.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm giving this anthology three stars because it is either that, or nothing, and I respect the genesis behind this collection as well as so many of the contributors, though I may not be impressed by the works presented here.

Clearly this anthology emerged from the particular circumstances surrounding the campaign by Jesse Helms and others to attack artistic freedom in the USA. The problem with work inspired by media headlines is that they quickly become period pieces - the fact Helms and most of the other political/pop-cultural personalities and references will need to be Googled by anyone born after 1980 speaks for itself. The other problem is that because of the nature of Helm's attacks most of the contributors have submitted work that strives to be 'shocking' - golden showers, coprophilia, masochism, S&M - but none of which seems 'High Risk' now, at least not in Europe. I found many of the stories tiresome and boring.

The really outstanding story was 'Wrong' by Dennis Cooper - but not for the reasons you might think. In many ways Cooper is the poster boy for 'shocking' literature which is more of a cliche than a truth, more people think they know what he writes about then have actually read him. It is at least twenty years or more since the last time I read this story from his first book but I was astounded by how fresh it read, how true and honest, but also shocking and disturbing - that I can not say the same for the vast majority of the material in this volume is because they are striving to shock but are lacking imagination and vision as well as good writing. Agenda driven writing may have its heart in the right place but it inspires journalism, at its best, not literature and certainly not anything that be considered art.

Writing that challenges or shocks grows out a writers vision and talent. While reading this anthology I reread a story by a UK author, Simon Burt, called 'Floral Street' from an anthology of short stories with the same name, published in 1986. I think it is way more challenging and shocking than any of the derivative twaddle in this anthology. It would possibly be found more disturbing now than when it was first published. It is utterly immoral and shocking but a brilliant piece of writing by an author who puts the High Risk authors well into irrelevance.

[Jeanne Thornton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started liking Kathy Acker because of this book basically. Really fantastically worth your time, esp. earlyish Kate Bornstein and Dodie Bellamy publications and awesome W.S. Burroughs piece on drug hysteria, plus more heartbreaking writing than is probably available anywhere.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an amazing mixture of essay, poetry, and prose. It waned towards the end, with the strongest work being in the front half of the book. Noted exception, the poem Dreams in Bondage by Michael Lassell. That is one amazing poem.

Sadly reading Mary Gaitskill short story, only confirmed for me that there is something about her writing that I just don't like. Not sure what, but I find it disturbing and not in a good way.

The book was published in 1991, so much of the work is dated, in terms of the coming out and acceptance of some alternative sexual practices and certain in terms of gay and lesbian acceptance in American culture.

Fair warning. This book is not for the faint of heart. If your mind is closed, just keep walking, there is nothing for you here.

[Rainb0warri0r · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tutt'altro che banale letteratura estrema, sfacciatamente pornografica: l'alto rischio di questi racconti è nel dire l'indicibile, nel mettere a nudo corpo anima e nevrosi dell'uomo contemporaneo. L'indicibile non è solo pornografia: è l'AIDS, la droga, esplosi come malessere sociale negli anni Ottanta, di cui si parla poco, si sussurra agli angoli della strada, di orecchio in orecchio, ma non si ha mai il coraggio di gridarlo forte e chiaro. L'alto rischio di fare a pezzi la facciata perbenista dell'America contemporanea, rivelando gli incubi dietro i sogni, le frustrazioni dietro i desideri. Ad alto rischio è il dominio dell'inconscio.

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

brilliant envelope-pushing short fiction, CNF/memoir excerpts, poetry, & essays on eroticism + sexuality, race, disability, drug use, sex work, & U.S. healthcare, drug policy, & government assistance from the throes of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. not one piece i disliked. some writing in here you can't find anywhere else. recommended reading for all

[John Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really took a lot from this. I initially picked it up because of Cooper, Acker and a late period Burroughs essay and expected it to be a teenage '90s shock collection, but the heights of the collection are short form stories Dorothy Allison, Mary Gaitskill, Kate Bornstein and David Trinidad, running from tender, haunting and horrific in a few queasy sentences. I now have a hefty reading list.

[Soph Nova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some run-of-the-mill erotica and some deeply disturbing pieces add up to make a memorable anthology that pushes a lot of buttons.

"At the end of heavy breathing
who will be responsible
for the destruction
of human love?"

[Kitty · Rating 1 out of 5]

😑 anti-woman anti-child anti-human decency. As usual

[Chinook · Rating 1 out of 5]

If there were half stars, this would be a 1.5. I liked the non-fiction essays better than the short stories - the chapters by John Preston, William S. Burroughs, and Dorothy Allison were the best, and I was surprised to really enjoy the poetry by Essex Hemphill. I didn't much like The Story of O, so I think this confirms that I don't much enjoy reading about S&M, and since I really didn't like Rip-Off Red, Girl Detective and the Burning Bombing of America by Kathy Acker, I guess I'm not surprised that I still don't like her writing. Most of all, this book leaves me wondering if homosexuality and S&M are the only two kinky things out there.

[Benny Morduchowitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3.4-3.6

Some really amazing pieces in this collection, but some felt like they were there solely for the sake of including "edgier" content, when the writing/content was unjustifiably grotesque. Some of the pieces were just underwhelming in their edginess, and simply not memorable.

Totally worth the read for some really gripping nonfiction and almost all the poetry was excellent.

[Alyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

thought the book was smut, but it goes deeper and discusses the issue of social conformity, convention, etc. had a lot of insights on how 'different' guys think and act. a compilation of writings, poems and essays from people who want to be heard. definitely different from the ones i usually read.

[Adam Hodgins · Rating 3 out of 5]

kind of dated, some good stuff though. Pieces by David Wojnarowicz, William Burroughs...