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Satyriasis: Literotica²
a short fiction collection by Lambda Literary Award winner
Ian Philips
Praise for Satyriasis: Literotica²
"Over all the stories looms Philips’ eloquent, prodding narrative voice, sparkling here with a bon mot, there with a deft probing from his own satyr’s horns. The best way to read his Satyriasis is not in one huge Dionysian quaff, but in sips from story to story, each a rowdy and raucous orgy on its own."
—William S. Dean, Clean Sheets
Read the full review here.
"The Man Who Fell in Love with an Arsehole:
"In Satyriasis: Literotica² the great god Pan invites the reader to a pastoral orgy to partake of the polymorphous fruits of a fecund, feral imagination. Pan acts as Master of Ceremonies in Ian Philips's collection, making an appearance in its opening and closing stories. And, naturally, you'd be wise to accept his kind invitation.
"Of the 16 stories on offer, "Overexposed" is one of the most intriguing. A voyeur surreptitiously photographs other guys as he passes them in the street. (Face fetishists, aren't they the freakiest?) then meets Mr. Right when a photo is handed to him, name and telephone number scrawled on the back. The story makes some telling points about the dominance of the visual in our erotic lives, and Philips has his own variation ("I'm all about the eye") on Isherwood's famous line ("I am a camera"). All rules for courting are inherently absurd; what makes them seem rational is that we all consistently obey them. Philips brings this out by skewering them ever so slightly.
"Shameless Self-Promotion" is a witty and cruel tale about a man who falls in love with an arsehole
It was delicate and yet textured--like the creases formed when layers of silk are placed one atop the other. And it subtly writhed when I touched it with the tip of my tongue.
"Unfortunately for our lover, he soon realises that "to enjoy the hole I have to suffer the ass that grows around it." Isn't that always the way?
"Written in the form of a memoir, "Stripping Towards Gomorrah" is an exquisite fragment in which Queen Anne remembers her dalliance with a young man whom her husband James I had previously enjoyed. The Queen reflects at one point that "perhaps the most intimate differences between Adam and Eve are more subtle than our learned men would like us to believe." And indeed this is a key theme for Philips: we are marvellous creatures, and the crass dichotomies that are our everyday currency (masculine/feminine, gay/straight, top/bottom, femme/butch) can hardly hope to do us justice. Philips's mission is to subvert these.
"Phil Andros was a member of Gertrude Stein's circle for a brief time, so when a story begins with "A cock is a cock is a cock," one hopes that it might shed light on one of the big issues of our time. Is there a qualitative difference between a straight man and a gay man's cock? "Heterodoxy" is a meditation on the sacred chalice of masculinity itself; and if no clear conclusion is reached, there is still much of interest in the direction and digression of the narrator's thought.
The outstanding story in the book is undoubtedly "Shrimpboat Willie," which is yet another demonstration that the most despairing siren songs are the most beautiful. In a dark Gothic prose with distinct echoes of Melville, Philips gives us weirdness (here, big toe fetishism) and a romance where love is not reciprocated. The experience of love is always real, Philips tells us, even when you're deluded or being used.
""Just Another Lesbian Potluck" closes the book, and it is here where Pan sets out his envoi and makes a final farewell. Before that, we get a comedy of manners, San Franciscan style. Clark and Jody attend a lesbian party with a Roman theme, slave-girls and all. There's a love triangle in that Jody is an ex of Lezzie Beddeath's, the hostess of the party, but this was when Jody was a woman. Amidst the sadomasochism and party games, the debauchery and mayhem, old resentments resurface. This is Mike Leigh territory, but not as we know it; someone's queered the pitch.
"In all his stories, Philips is both erotic and subversive. Satyriasis: Literotica² is a kind of wonderful bestiary, presided over by Pan, or his fabulist-on-earth, Ian Philips.
—Paul Kane, Chroma
"Like his author hubby, Greg Wharton, Ian Philips knows how to spin a good tale about getting good tail. His first compilation, See Dick Deconstruct, was a bold collection of "literotica" that skewered the traditional staples of stroke fiction in favor of delightfully daffy scenarios that tickled the funny bone and stroked the brain as well. Satyriasis: Literotica² continues this tradition as Philips deftly brings his stories to life with all the wit and intellect he can muster in a pansexual collection that will appeal to fags, lesbos, trannies, faeries and Greek gods of all kinds. The title story has the great god Pan taking human form to get his much-in-need ass fucked by a couple of mere mortals, while "Love in the Time of Cold Cuts" is a hilariously wacky tale about a struggling young actress who goes down in infamy when she is caught on a grocery store security camera sticking a "talking" sausage into her snatch. Elsewhere, sadomasochistic dentists take flossing to a whole new level, a shrimp boat captain discovers a fetish for getting fucked by big toes, and Adam and Eve-and Steve-get it on in a motel room. For its sheer brilliance alone, you've got to read "Shameless Self Promotion," in which Philips tells of an encounter he once had teaching an arrogant, moderately talented writer a lesson in a back alley. This sadistically erotic masterpiece is the kind of writing that raises the bar for the genre."
—Colt Spencer, Unzipped
"Ian Philips is a smart, articulate, and radical queen of bitchy smut and poetic erotic fiction. In this madcap, pansexual, and polymorphous perverse collection of short stories, everybody has to pay the piper. But if we've paid him, doesn't that mean we can all start to dance now? One of the things I love about Ian Philips as a writer and as a friend is his essential good-heartedness. He keeps faith with the hope that we can be better people and through this spiritual exercise create a better world. He firmly believes in our right to our pleasures, even when we are silly in their pursuit and enjoyment. In fact, as he points out with great glee, sex is inherently silly. But that doesn't mean it isn't also profoundly nourishing and diverting. When we laugh at our enemies because we see through their hatefulness, and when we laugh at ourselves because we can forgive our own shortcomings, we take a few lifetimes off of our karmic sentences upon the Wheel of Death and Rebirth."
—Patrick Califia, from the foreword Doing Pan Proud
"I'm not enough of an erotic historian to know if Philips was the first to merge 'literary' and 'erotica' and use the result in his title. But it fits: this is just his second collection; his first, See Dick Deconstruct, deservedly won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Erotica. His writing is so good that the hot bits are sometimes—often?—beside the point. And pansexuality rules—there are boys and girls and merry in-betweens frolicking in this book. 'Just Another Lesbian Potluck' is a hoot, 'Cyber Interruptus' deconstructs queer Internet porn, 'Shrimpboat Willie' gleefully honors foot fetishists, and 'Nearer My Greg to Thee' is a paean to phone sex—and the man the author loves. 'Kidnaps Flaubert, Mark Twain, and the Marquis de Sade and stuffs them in the back of his getaway car with a bottle of lube and a wooden paddle,' Kirk Read wowed on the back cover, in that rarest of paragraphs—a right-on blurb."
—Richard Labonte, Books to Watch Out For
"While erotica typically concerns itself with the body, maybe one of the least explored erogenous zones is the mind. Ian Philips aims to correct that with his second collection, Satyriasis: Literotica², which aims to render erotica through the lens of intellectual humor, classical references, and a highbrow thinker's view of what is playful. The collection almost defies description... And when the book declares itself pansexual, it is not hyperbole: two of the stories involve the god Pan himself."
—David Valdes Greenwood, The Boston Phoenix
"I may just be one of those "porn needs plot" kind of guys, but it seems to me that the most noteworthy feature of Philips' latest offering is the fact that its numerous short stories manage to seamlessly blend good old fashioned smut with some more than reasonably interesting narrative.
"In just the first few pages of Satyriasis it becomes apparent that Philips is quite well read, as he provides some clever and hilarious alternate takes on a number of historical and mythological topics, ranging from biblical tales to classical mythology. In short, nothing is sacred in Philips' twisted little world; Adam and Eve enjoy an open relationship, while the great god Pan himself enjoys some granola-fueled tomfoolery in the sun a with hippie named Max. There is also a particularly interesting segment in which a woman's fun bits devour a whole sausage--literally. To understand the truly bizarre nature of Philips' thinking, you'll just have to read the book yourself.
"As for the sex itself, it's hot enough, but certainly not groundbreaking. If you're new to queer lit or erotica in general, this might be a good place to start, but if it's sexual inspiration that you seek, you may want to look elsewhere. Of course this is not to suggest
that Satyriasis is lacking in super-hot moments, it's just that the sex on its own is not spectacular enough to carry a reader through three hundred plus pages of writing. Fortunately, Philips' finely tuned (and offbeat) sense humor combined with a number of well-placed
allusions make for a read that stimulates both the mind and nether regions equally.
"While I'm on the topic of stimulation, I should note that while Satyriasis contains mostly boy-on-boy action, it also contains a number of hetero interludes. As such, the volume should appeal to a very wide range of people, ranging from curious bio boys to flaming queers to adventurous heterosexuals.
"All in all, I found Satyriasis to be an enjoyable read, and I think it might be best described as smut for smart people. While it can be read purely for its arousing qualities, it's best consumed as a sort of introduction to literature--for insatiably horny perverts. So, if you feel like boning-up your mythology, and perhaps a close friend or two as well, give it a shot. You won't be disappointed."
—Scott Hayward, S.M.U.T. Magazine
“Ian Philips is Kathy Acker with a sense of humor. A devilish one at that!”
—Sven Davisson, Ashe: Journal of Experimental Spirituality
Read the full review here.
"When Ian Philips released his first collection of erotic stories, See Dick Deconstruct, a bold voice was born into queer literature. See Dick Deconstruct ended up winning a Lambda Literary Award for Best Erotica in 2001. Ian Philip's sophmore book, Satyriasis: Literotica² is a return to the queer ring of the satiricallt bent.
"In Satyriasis, Philips uses his ever-powerful voice (finely crafted to the classical style of such writers as Mark Twain) and blends it with touches of bizarre, quirky, and mythological plots. The end recipe is a pansexual collection of stories that elevate the imagination (among other things).
"In the title story, we witness the Greek god Pan searching beyond pixies, faeries, and fellow gods in an attempt to be bottomed for the first time in millennia. Pan makes a second appearance in the story "Just Another lesbian Potluck," in which a mere gathering turns into an eccentric and prodigious orgy. Diving further into the never-ending world of weirdness that makes up Satyriasis, the story "Love in the Time of Cold Cuts" proves there is more that meets the eye (or mouth) when it comes to a certain character's insatiable appetitie revealed to her by a specific part of her anatomy. "Through a Glory Hole Darkly" presents a distressing account of oral sex during a power failure at a men's sex club. These are but a few of the radical stories presented by the wild imagination of Ian Philips.
"Satyriasis is a brilliant and shamelessly constructed volume of stories filled with humor, magic, and erotic imagery. Philips effectively brings multi-dimensional characters, both godlike and mortal, into the sexually charged plots of his stories and provides a stimulating and imaginative universe for them to run untamed with their sexual desires. It is no wonder that Philips has made such a remarkable impact in the world of queer literature—his voice, like his stories in Satyriasis, is unlike any other."
—Andrew Wolter, X-Factor
"Literate erotic fiction; what a concept! More than pornography for the intellectual, this collection of sixteen stories will titillate the mind as well as the body. With references to classic literature, mythology, and even song titles, this is the thinking person's bawdy entertainment
"It's fun. It uses big words. It's sex-filled, but with new and different terminology and descriptions, so that the reader does not tire of reading the same old 'up his bung hole to the third nuckle' style of writing.
"Philips takes things a step further by dedicating each story to someone in particular. If one happens to be familiar with said persons (or thier work), there is even a greater touch of irony to be gleamed.
"A welcome change from the usual fare, Satyriasis will whet your appetite for more stimulation--of the intellectual kind as well. Lambda Literary Awards, are you listening?"
—The Virginia GayZette
"Humorous, intelligent and often outrageous, these wickedly clever stories of pansexual 'literotica' track the sexual exploits of horny, Greek gods in need of a good plowing, sadomasochistic dentists who use their dental equipment on each other to get their kicks, and self-obsessed sex writers who need to be taught the art of humility. So well written, you'll forget you're reading erotica."
—Colt Spencer, AVN
"Satyriasis begins and ends with the appearance of none other than the great god Pan himself, which is fitting, given the irreverence and sexiness of the rest of the stories that fill this collection. With this book, Ian Philips has crafted a series of incredibly smart and incredibly funny tales, each surpassing the last. He’s also managed to skewer all the queer subcultures in danger of taking themselves too seriously—in addition to satyrs, these are stories filled with well-delivered satire."
—Heather Otrando, SexHerald.com
"Satyriasis: Literotica² is Lambda Literary Award Winner Ian Philip's follow-up effort to See Dick Deconstruct. He is easily one of the most intellectual writers in erotica, knowing well all of the uses and abuses of language. In See Dick Deconstruct, Phillips defied convention with his tilt characterizations of the least likely heroes and heroines in all of their glorious mishaps and mistakes. His newest release is a smart, sexy, sick, marathon mind fuck. There is no cow too sacred to escape his razor sharp wit.
"The writing is brilliant and the pacing even more so. Satyriasis: Literotica² is laid out like an enormous banquet with each new portion adding, removing, enhancing the already rich aftertaste of the one that preceded it. 'Satyriasis' is the perfect beginning--fun, humorous, and sarcastic. Philips cranks it up with stories like 'Shameless Self Promotion' and 'What The Market Will Bear'. These stories don't just arouse lust but they arouse thought. It's a dangerous thing, a story about sex that makes you ponder politics, corruption, conspiracy and mass ignorance. While 'Visions Of Plumber's Crack' and 'Love In The Time Of Cold Cuts' are the wine or fresh fruit, cleansing the cerebral pallet to make room for more heavy flavor.
"Of course, I loved this book. It has a little bit of everything and a few jewels I never thought I'd find anywhere else, like 'Shrimpboat Willie' and 'Stripping Towards Gomorrah'. It's heavy at times, challenging and complicated, but it never spoke down to me and each time I re-read a story, (have read some four times) I find something new that I didn't notice before. While it's not for everyone, it's a fabulous book and I can't wait to see what he cooks up next."
—darling ry, Blue Food
"No one is what they seem in Ian Philips porn, except when they're archetypes, or phenotypes, or maybe prototypes (but never, never stereotypes) except that they all have such good sex. Really good sex. Heart pounding, bedding-destroying, Proust-quoting sex with reckless abandon and delicious glee and sometimes even malice aforethought, which is of course my favorite kind. With characters borrowed from *everywhere* (and the more you read the more you'll get the wicked little ironies of the names) and lots of trans-things doing it like they do on the Discovery Channel, and then there's the story 'Just Another Lesbian Potluck,' which is so polymorphously perverse that even I had a bit of trouble keeping up—which, it should go without saying, I mean as a compliment."
—S. Bear Bergman, ButchDykeBoy.com
"Ian Philips kidnaps Flaubert, Mark Twain, and the Marquis de Sade. He
stuffs them in the trunk of his getaway car with a bottle of lube and a
wooden paddle. Then he drives cross-country. His voice is smart, funny,
and totally filthy. Yum."
—Kirk Read, author of How I Learned to Snap
"Ian Philips is a very well-read, very blasphemous, dirty little piggy."
—Michelle Tea, author of Valencia and The Chelsea Whistle
"Ian Philips' 'Just Another Lesbian Potluck' does for, you guessed it,
lesbian potlucks what Pat Califia's 'The Calyx of Isis' did for lesbian
sex clubs: left me wondering where the f@#! is the one closest to me. And
that wasn't the only tale in Satyriasis that left me hungry and horny as
hell."
—Ruth Vitale, author of Goddesses Gone Wild and Fair Lilith
"I laughed my wooly ass off. Two horns up."
—The Great God Pan
release: October 2003
gay fiction/erotica
softcover, 5X8
304 pages
$16.95
0-9710846-5-3
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