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Exhibitionism
RO60143075. EXHIBITIONISM. 2003. In-12. Broch. Etat d'usage, Couv. lgrement plie, Dos pli, Intrieur acceptable. 292 pages. Dos et 2e plat lgrement abms. Annotation au feutre sur la tranche.. . . . Classification Dewey : 420-Langue anglaise. Anglo-saxon
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 28, 2002
5 people are currently reading
89 people want to read
About the author
Toby Litt
89 books210 followersToby Litt was born in Bedfordshire, England. He studied Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia where he was taught by Malcolm Bradbury, winning the 1995 Curtis Brown Fellowship.
He lived in Prague from 1990 to 1993 and published his first book, a collection of short stories entitled Adventures in Capitalism, in 1996.
In 2003 Toby Litt was nominated by Granta magazine as one of the 20 'Best of Young British Novelists'.
In 2018, he published Wrestliana, his memoir about wrestling, writing, losing and being a man.
His novel, A Writer's Diary, was published by Galley Beggar Press on January 1st 2022.
A Writer's Diary continues daily on Substack.
He lives in London and is the Head of Creative Writing at the University of Southampton.
He lived in Prague from 1990 to 1993 and published his first book, a collection of short stories entitled Adventures in Capitalism, in 1996.
In 2003 Toby Litt was nominated by Granta magazine as one of the 20 'Best of Young British Novelists'.
In 2018, he published Wrestliana, his memoir about wrestling, writing, losing and being a man.
His novel, A Writer's Diary, was published by Galley Beggar Press on January 1st 2022.
A Writer's Diary continues daily on Substack.
He lives in London and is the Head of Creative Writing at the University of Southampton.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 26, 2022
Shit's pretty well written and fun, but it went waaayy over my horny cishet guy tolerance threshold.
November 1, 2022
This was a bizarre but fun collection of magical realism and intimacy
September 9, 2009
Cute, Acute, Fucked Up and Wonderful
As the title perhaps suggests, this is a collection of short stories with sex as the linking theme. This moves from the experimental and almost meta short stories such as The Etiquette of Eye-Contact during Oral Sex (an article/how-to guide with some interesting footnotes) to the gorgeous, experimental Dreamgirls where dreamt-up fantasy ladies keep appearing in real life, to the truly dark and twisted one (its title escapes me just now) where Highgate Cemetery takes a leading role.
Nothing seems to escape Toby Litt's hawk-like eye, but it's a warm, humane voice which expands on these observations. In the aforementioned Dreamgirls the narrator is first approached by the girl of his dreams with a line beginning with the word "Let's." The narrator then muses on the apostrophe - marking the gap where the word 'us' would be - shaped like a tiny foetus - word is pregnant with the possibilities, the future, of "us." It's an observation few would get away with without sounding wanky, but Litt manages it - it's just a small, gorgeous little aside in a tightly-plotted, heartwarming (but by no means cutesy) story.
The only problem, I'd say, with Toby Litt, is that he never seems to do the same thing twice. Those who enjoy one thing he's written and go seeking more of the same may be disappointed. Though I'm full of admiration for someone who's obviously got too many ideas and too many interests to ever settle for any one format, genre or voice - this also means that the stories I loved the most in this book are not necessarily representative of the whole (hence four stars, not five). Alphabed, for example, an uncringing look at a relationship dying out, is not easy or fun reading, but is a tale which needs documenting, while The Audioguide to the Museum Inside Your Head lost me completely. But on the latter I'm enamoured enough with Mr Litt that I'm inclined to say it's my fault, not being smart enough to keep up.
Overall there’s an impressive variety in this collection which demonstrates the possibilities of the short story, and the variety of the human condition. On top of that, there is a poetic heart and a wry wit behind all of these pieces. Read it now.
As the title perhaps suggests, this is a collection of short stories with sex as the linking theme. This moves from the experimental and almost meta short stories such as The Etiquette of Eye-Contact during Oral Sex (an article/how-to guide with some interesting footnotes) to the gorgeous, experimental Dreamgirls where dreamt-up fantasy ladies keep appearing in real life, to the truly dark and twisted one (its title escapes me just now) where Highgate Cemetery takes a leading role.
Nothing seems to escape Toby Litt's hawk-like eye, but it's a warm, humane voice which expands on these observations. In the aforementioned Dreamgirls the narrator is first approached by the girl of his dreams with a line beginning with the word "Let's." The narrator then muses on the apostrophe - marking the gap where the word 'us' would be - shaped like a tiny foetus - word is pregnant with the possibilities, the future, of "us." It's an observation few would get away with without sounding wanky, but Litt manages it - it's just a small, gorgeous little aside in a tightly-plotted, heartwarming (but by no means cutesy) story.
The only problem, I'd say, with Toby Litt, is that he never seems to do the same thing twice. Those who enjoy one thing he's written and go seeking more of the same may be disappointed. Though I'm full of admiration for someone who's obviously got too many ideas and too many interests to ever settle for any one format, genre or voice - this also means that the stories I loved the most in this book are not necessarily representative of the whole (hence four stars, not five). Alphabed, for example, an uncringing look at a relationship dying out, is not easy or fun reading, but is a tale which needs documenting, while The Audioguide to the Museum Inside Your Head lost me completely. But on the latter I'm enamoured enough with Mr Litt that I'm inclined to say it's my fault, not being smart enough to keep up.
Overall there’s an impressive variety in this collection which demonstrates the possibilities of the short story, and the variety of the human condition. On top of that, there is a poetic heart and a wry wit behind all of these pieces. Read it now.
November 4, 2007
Hilarious and outrageously nasty short stories. My favourites were "Etiquette on Eye Contact while Giving Head" or some such title, and "A-Z".
September 27, 2018
A collection of wonderfully absurd short stories, all of them out of the ordinary. Half of them to do with sex in some form or other. Like "Dreamgirls" in which the dreamgirls of the protagonist come to live. Or "Legends of Porn" in which porn without porn turns out to be groundbreaking. "The New Puritans" can be quite shocking. Whereas "The Waters" is completely surreal. "Alphabed" is a story divided up into all the letters of the alphabet and can apparently be read in any order the reader wishes.
A very entertaining read and a good example of why I read everything by Toby Litt.
A very entertaining read and a good example of why I read everything by Toby Litt.
May 3, 2020
Weird sexy unsettling stories
January 8, 2023
reading this for highschool was really not what i wanted to do
April 5, 2014
Didn't really enjoy this collection of short stories which largely had an erotic/supernatural twist to them. Some were just too far-fetched to be taken seriously, one I found totally incomprehensible ('Audiobook') and others were just too contrived, such as the one where there is a page for each letter of the alphabet with an instruction to read 'in any order other than that in which it is printed'! Either way, it is not really a story about two particular characters (I don't think!) or if it is is too disjointed. Overall, 3/10 for this one from me I'm afraid.
August 3, 2011
I really enjoyed this one. Some very intriguing stories. The writing is just right.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews