Tasting Her - book discontinued by Cleis Press Inc. - review by Jenny Swallows

A few years ago, attending an online seminar on erotica, somebody asked a question that I have often pondered. Why do so few writers write well about cunnilingus?

Because, someone else shot back, so few people know how to do it properly.

Hmmm. I didn't pursue that response at the time, and I'm not going to do so now. But before we get into Tasting Her, an observation. Twenty-one authors contributed to this pussy-licking paradise, of whom just five are male. Three more are girl-on-girl gay. Which means more than two thirds of the stories here are by girls who know precisely what they want, and have now fictionalized a guy who is capable of giving it to them. Which is a pretty dismal success rate when you really sit and think about it.

The strange thing is, even they seem more intrigued by the uncertainty that often surrounds the act, than its actual successful execution. Tasting Him, the companion to this volume, overflows with exquisite fellatrixes, all (or most) of whom have the process down to a fine art. Here, there seems to be a little more hesitation; Donna George Storey's "Snatch" and Giselle Renard's "Kiss The Cook" both make their move only once the narrator has been shaved, and I don't want to get all psychological on you, but what does that tell us about prevalent attitudes?

Gwen Master's "Teaching Theresa" opens with the titular heroine telling her poised and pussy-starved boyfriend no, because she doesn't like the idea of it - then rather disappointingly turns into one of those stories where Sir Galahad rides to the rescue with sweet words and soft tongue (yea, the title was a bit of a giveaway, too); and Emerald's "Raincheck" follows much the same script.

You start flicking through the pages, looking for stories with a little more confidence, a little more enthusiasm from start to finish. Jen Cross' "Queen of Sheba" is a fabulous High School epic laced with more mad enthusiasm than (in)experience, and Adelaide Clark's "Happy Hours" finds a toyboy whose greatest delight lies in licking his Mistress. Plus he sucks on her shoes as well. Now there's a combination to relish.

Rachel Kramer Bussel's "Cunnilingus 101" overcomes a discouraging title to toy instead with the teasing promise of anticipation; but the best of all the first-time-or-thereabouts stories is Julia Moore's well-titled "Down There," which crystalizes another thought that just came to mind. That female writers seem to relax a lot more easily into cunnilingus if there's another woman doing it.

I haven't mentioned any of the male authors yet, and there's a reason for that. Because you already know what they're going to say. Show me a man whose tongue is not so skilled that angels scream orgasmically at the very sight of its tip, and I'll show you... insert the simile of your choice. And so we meander on, the realization dawning louder and louder that Tasting Her is nowhere near so much fun as Tasting Him was, and you can take that observation however you want to.

And the question with which we opened this review continues awaiting an answer.