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C.A.L.M.: Crimes Against Love Memories
'Because a life lived in fear is equal to no life at all'This is the uncompromising vision of Jehnny Beth and Johnny Hostile. Fearless and highly erotic, these stories delight in ideas of sexual transgression and liberation, offering a window onto a world where anything is permitted, and everything is safe. As each of Jehnny Beth and Johnny Hostile's characters break from the bonds of acceptability and enter a darkness of desire, submission and sex, they discover their own humanity, a place where they can truly be free. A manifesto in the form of erotic photography, monologues and dialogues, Johnny Hostile's stimulating photography punctuates Jehnny Beth's seductive prose. Collapsing the barriers between sex an art while examining the universal values of human existence and consciousness through uninhibited desire, C.A.L.M. established Jehnny Beth and Johnny Hostile as two of the bravest and most provocative voices in fiction and erotic art today. The full collection of Johnny Hostile's photography is featured in a limited-edition hard cover art book of C.A.L.M.
133 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 25, 2026
Really 3 and a half
Was sorting out my bookcases and found this. The day was hot and, although I should have been working, I cracked the spine and read it from cover to cover in a couple of hours.
What we have here is a collection of short stories - 12 in all - that are divided into ‘Monologues’ and ‘Dialogues’. Each chapter is divided into shorter ‘chaplets’ that are a paragraph long (each paragraph varying in length).
The stories are a mixed bag but generally speaking can be defined as the stories of sexual exploration of people who live ‘outside’ the sexual norms - orgies, flesh eating, necrophilia etc. Obviously keenly inspired by Nin.
The writing is a little pretentious at times but Beth CAN write and some of the aphorisms feel to be honest and truthful.
Not sure I’d read again in a hurry but not disappointed that I did read it.
Was sorting out my bookcases and found this. The day was hot and, although I should have been working, I cracked the spine and read it from cover to cover in a couple of hours.
What we have here is a collection of short stories - 12 in all - that are divided into ‘Monologues’ and ‘Dialogues’. Each chapter is divided into shorter ‘chaplets’ that are a paragraph long (each paragraph varying in length).
The stories are a mixed bag but generally speaking can be defined as the stories of sexual exploration of people who live ‘outside’ the sexual norms - orgies, flesh eating, necrophilia etc. Obviously keenly inspired by Nin.
The writing is a little pretentious at times but Beth CAN write and some of the aphorisms feel to be honest and truthful.
Not sure I’d read again in a hurry but not disappointed that I did read it.
July 22, 2020
These stories are amazing and amazingly written. The diction becomes the window to see. Wonderful. Real art and erotica that conjured an image of being produced from a dinner discussion between Anais Nin, Audre Lorde, and Chuck Palahniuk. A dinner discussion that is Jehnny Beth.
January 17, 2022
Couldn't finish it - sorry Jehnny
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews