A list of the best erotica ever
My highly erotic novel, Cult of Beauty: the Secret Life of a Supermodel has been influenced by all of the erotic books listed below. Here's what one reader wrote on Amazon: "Cult of Beauty is beautifully written and I highly recommend it. It's seductive, opulent, hedonistic and a bit taboo. It's an insider's view of the fashion industry and a glimpse into the lives of the über wealthy. The eroticism is very direct with a tasty combination of men and women. Not much is left to the imagination." Click here to read more reviews and see a preview: www.amazon.com.
1. Emmanuelle (1 & 2) by Emmanuelle Arsan
This book is a gem. Written in 1959 by a French diplomat who ascribed authorship to his wife and written under the pseudonym Emmanuelle Arsan, it describes the life of a young woman within a community of ex-pats in Thailand in the sixties when she comes to join her engineer husband there. What I love about is the Frenchness of it—the languor of long, slow afternoons that are perfect for exploring sensual pleasures, whether of the lesbian kind or lessons in erotic philosophy from a gay Italian sexual dilettante. It’s a charged, sensual world I wish I could live in.
2. Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James
Thank you to E L for expanding the reach of erotica. This is more in the vein of an erotic romance, where the emphasis of the story is very much on the relationship of Christian Grey, dashing young billionaire, and his college student lover, Anastasia Steele, through the prism of her introduction to S&M.
3. The Secret Life of Girls by Chloe Thurlow
This might be the best erotic novel I have ever read, and for me, it puts Chloe in the same category as the greatest writers of erotica such as Anais Nin, Pauline Reage and Emmanuelle Arsan. It is not mainstream erotic romance and not for the faint of heart - it gets quite kinky and perverse. Bella is not prone to much angst despite her youth, and she is too self-possessed and ambitious to swoon over an alpha male. She takes her sexual pleasure where she finds it (with both men and women), sometimes using seduction to get what she needs, and at other times indulging her own desires when she's falling for someone, whether it's the beautiful nun, Sister Nuria, or Troy, the "townie" from the village next to her school.
4. 100 Brushstrokes Before Bed by Melissa P.
An erotic breakout hit from Italy where it sold 700,000 copies. From the Amazon description: the fictionalized memoir of Melissa P., a Sicilian teenager whose quest for love rapidly devolves into a shocking journey of sexual discovery. It is kind of dark, and a bit melacholy and a great read.
5. The Story of O by Pauline Reage
The class S&M masterpiece. Nothing more need be said.
6. The Ages of Lulu by Almadena Grandes
Hot European erotica. A different by very sexy sensibility.
7. The Courtesan by Anonymous
Another favorite of the Victorian era. Takes place in Paris in an era of extreme sensuality and depravity.
8. Autobiography of a Flea by Anonymous
A classic. I love the feeling of the old France in it—a world where priests lust for pretty young things who like to indulge men with large members.
Honorable mentions: Eveline by Anonymous. A Victorian novel, among the best and most perverse of its type. Eveline is a beautiful and wicked girl who seeks sexual pleasure with various unlikely partners including ultimately her father and brother. Very well written and the source of many long drawn out orgasms for me.
Anything by Anais Nin, the Marquis de Sade (Philosophy in the Boudoir was the sexiest of his twisted oeuvre that I’ve read, many of the others being pretty out there), Topping from Below by Laura Reese, Rescue Me by Megan Clark, The Butcher by Alina Reyes, Leda and the Swan by Anonymous.
1. Emmanuelle (1 & 2) by Emmanuelle Arsan
This book is a gem. Written in 1959 by a French diplomat who ascribed authorship to his wife and written under the pseudonym Emmanuelle Arsan, it describes the life of a young woman within a community of ex-pats in Thailand in the sixties when she comes to join her engineer husband there. What I love about is the Frenchness of it—the languor of long, slow afternoons that are perfect for exploring sensual pleasures, whether of the lesbian kind or lessons in erotic philosophy from a gay Italian sexual dilettante. It’s a charged, sensual world I wish I could live in.
2. Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James
Thank you to E L for expanding the reach of erotica. This is more in the vein of an erotic romance, where the emphasis of the story is very much on the relationship of Christian Grey, dashing young billionaire, and his college student lover, Anastasia Steele, through the prism of her introduction to S&M.
3. The Secret Life of Girls by Chloe Thurlow
This might be the best erotic novel I have ever read, and for me, it puts Chloe in the same category as the greatest writers of erotica such as Anais Nin, Pauline Reage and Emmanuelle Arsan. It is not mainstream erotic romance and not for the faint of heart - it gets quite kinky and perverse. Bella is not prone to much angst despite her youth, and she is too self-possessed and ambitious to swoon over an alpha male. She takes her sexual pleasure where she finds it (with both men and women), sometimes using seduction to get what she needs, and at other times indulging her own desires when she's falling for someone, whether it's the beautiful nun, Sister Nuria, or Troy, the "townie" from the village next to her school.
4. 100 Brushstrokes Before Bed by Melissa P.
An erotic breakout hit from Italy where it sold 700,000 copies. From the Amazon description: the fictionalized memoir of Melissa P., a Sicilian teenager whose quest for love rapidly devolves into a shocking journey of sexual discovery. It is kind of dark, and a bit melacholy and a great read.
5. The Story of O by Pauline Reage
The class S&M masterpiece. Nothing more need be said.
6. The Ages of Lulu by Almadena Grandes
Hot European erotica. A different by very sexy sensibility.
7. The Courtesan by Anonymous
Another favorite of the Victorian era. Takes place in Paris in an era of extreme sensuality and depravity.
8. Autobiography of a Flea by Anonymous
A classic. I love the feeling of the old France in it—a world where priests lust for pretty young things who like to indulge men with large members.
Honorable mentions: Eveline by Anonymous. A Victorian novel, among the best and most perverse of its type. Eveline is a beautiful and wicked girl who seeks sexual pleasure with various unlikely partners including ultimately her father and brother. Very well written and the source of many long drawn out orgasms for me.
Anything by Anais Nin, the Marquis de Sade (Philosophy in the Boudoir was the sexiest of his twisted oeuvre that I’ve read, many of the others being pretty out there), Topping from Below by Laura Reese, Rescue Me by Megan Clark, The Butcher by Alina Reyes, Leda and the Swan by Anonymous.