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Pif Magazine
Pif Magazine |
Clean Sheets 
If you accept the invitation and (wink, wink) "climb into bed" with Clean Sheets, you'll find one of the better erotica 'zines on the Web; not exactly Nerve, mind you, but a well-edited, thoroughly-readable mix of commentary, feature articles, poetry and fiction.
As a general rule, editor Mary Anne Mohanraj devotes plenty of bytes to the kinkier side of things, and the current issue is no exception. Check out Hanne Blank's ("The Fat Broad") frank, Dear-Abbey-style dish on vaginal fisting (by all means, she says, try it – but girls, watch those nails), and Robert W. Belsky's thorough discussion of the do's and don'ts of anal sex. Both of these features exemplify the solid, straightforward sex-ed content that Clean Sheets does best. Belsky, for instance, begins by surveying the fundamentals of anal intercourse (gay or straight), such as the importance of using condoms and lubricants, selecting the most comfortable position, then gets down to the finer points, like analingus. If you've never explored anal sex but are thinking about a little experimentation, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better primer. Thumbs up, too, to Clean Sheets' modest poetry section, "Night Stanzas." The verse here is a bit spotty, but it certainly deserves a look, particularly, Sabina C. Becker's "Orange" (perhaps the most subtle of the lot) and John Sheirer's haiku sequence, "The Pinkest Places," which contains the following carefully distilled gems:
No less provocative – albeit in a different way – is Debra Hyde's article, "Erotica on the Rocks," which discusses erotica's apparently shaky status in the US publishing industry. Hyde illustrates how, despite the recent crop of anthologies, the table displays and well-stocked erotica sections that we're likely to find at our local Barnes and Noble – all of which seemingly suggests something of an erotica renaissance – there is actually an identifiable trend among publishers toward dropping erotica titles or suspending acquisitions. Hyde offers a number of case studies, then issues a "clarion call" to readers to "buy a title every time you walk into Borders or Tower, or browse Amazon." Erotica she says, particularly for the S & M crowd, is more than just reading. Rather it's "a reflection of our community, our fantasies, and the essence of our passions. And it's part of our history." The only real disappointment is Clean Sheets' current roster of erotic fiction. Stories like Daniel James Cabrillo's "Pique & Melissa... & Doc" and Kate Trainor's "Mid-air" are mildly titillating, to be sure, but craft-wise they're closer to what you might expect to find in "Penthouse Forum" than, say, the journals of Anais Nin. Sadly, both authors rush to get to the bump and grind and in the process forget all about the vivid description, the careful portraiture, the piercing details that, in the best erotic fiction, stimulate that biggest of all erogenous zones – the one between our ears. The only standout here is Kim Addonizio's "Emergency Room" (which, "due to a scheduling conflict" (?), is actually located in the poetry section). In all fairness, Clean Sheets should not be judged too harshly on the shortcomings of its fiction, especially since what it does best – provide insightful, straight-talking articles and commentary on sexuality and society – it does very well indeed. This alone makes it one of the few erotica 'zines honestly worth seeking out. Tell us what you think. Email talkback@pifmagazine.com Want Pif to review your zine? A graduate of Columbia University and The University of Pennsylvania, life-long New Jerseyan and New York Mets fan, Tom Hartman now lives in Philadelphia where he's an Associate Poetry Editor at Painted Bride Quarterly. Over the years his writing has appeared in numerous publications, including The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Photo Review, City Paper (Philadelphia), and Philadelphia Weekly. When he's not writing he spends far too much time hating the Atlanta Braves.
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