Ugly Sex
I’ve been on a kick of fighting my way down the TBR pile lately, trying to reduce its height. At least until it’s less than my own. In heels, anyway. Come on, a gal’s gotta have goals, right? Anyway, I’m digging deep and reading books I’ve been meaning to get to for way too long. One of the books on that stack was Stephen Jay Schwartz’ BOULEVARD .
Did I mention I love ugly sex? In fiction of course. In real life I’d obviously prefer all the sex I have to be toe-curling, headboard-thumping full-tilt awesome in every way. But in fiction, that kind of action bores me silly.
That’s not to say a hot sex scene can’t be engaging and intriguing, as long as it’s believable, deeply personal, and actually tells you something about the characters involved. Vicki Hendricks’ books feature great examples of hot sex done right. But far too often, authors seem to default to a kind of generic template where every move is perfect and everyone involved is athletic, acrobatic and otherwise flawless. In chick-lit, it’s all molten, romantic and dreamy. In dick-lit it’s all porno fireworks and rock video hair whipping. No one ever fumbles, or fails to connect, or feels dirty after it’s over.
This is not a problem in BOULEVARD. The sex in that book is raw, painfully honest and unrelentingly ugly. And I’m loving it.
Another book that features fantastic, beautifully rendered ugly sex is Cathi Unsworth’s THE NOT KNOWING. That sex scene reads like a car-crash, and like a car crash, you find you just can’t look away.
So, Faustketeers, what are some of your favorite ugly sex scenes in fiction?
Did I mention I love ugly sex? In fiction of course. In real life I’d obviously prefer all the sex I have to be toe-curling, headboard-thumping full-tilt awesome in every way. But in fiction, that kind of action bores me silly.
That’s not to say a hot sex scene can’t be engaging and intriguing, as long as it’s believable, deeply personal, and actually tells you something about the characters involved. Vicki Hendricks’ books feature great examples of hot sex done right. But far too often, authors seem to default to a kind of generic template where every move is perfect and everyone involved is athletic, acrobatic and otherwise flawless. In chick-lit, it’s all molten, romantic and dreamy. In dick-lit it’s all porno fireworks and rock video hair whipping. No one ever fumbles, or fails to connect, or feels dirty after it’s over.
This is not a problem in BOULEVARD. The sex in that book is raw, painfully honest and unrelentingly ugly. And I’m loving it.
Another book that features fantastic, beautifully rendered ugly sex is Cathi Unsworth’s THE NOT KNOWING. That sex scene reads like a car-crash, and like a car crash, you find you just can’t look away.
So, Faustketeers, what are some of your favorite ugly sex scenes in fiction?