Coming Together Presents C. Sanchez-Garcia

Edited by Lisabet Sarai

Book Review by Ashley Lister

The Coming Together anthologies are probably one of the worthiest causes in contemporary literature.  To date the single author collections have included M. Christian and Remittance Girl, amongst many other well known names from the genre.  Anthologies of erotic short stories, that benefit charitable causes, allow readers to contribute to something worthy and enjoy the pleasure of erotic literature all for the same price. 

The proceeds from Coming Together Presents C. Sanchez-Garcia will benefit the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. RAINN is the nation's largest anti-sexual assault organization. It operates a national hotline, educates the public about sexual assault; and leads national efforts to prevent sexual assault, improve services to victims and ensure that rapists are brought to justice.

But Coming Together Presents C. Garcia-Sanchez would be worth buying without the benefit of supporting a worthy cause.  Coming Together Presents C. Garcia-Sanchez is a bloody good book.

Because this is a collection of short stories, I’ll begin by saying that the quality is consistent and high, even though the approach varies in a range of eclectic styles and considered approaches. 

‘Rough Draft’ is a perfect example of this eclectic approach, beginning in the style of a letter to a men’s magazine and starting to reveal the sexploits of a just-turned-eighteen narrator in the typical fashion of an ‘I-can’t-believe-it-happened-to-me’ exposition.

Garcia-Sanchez understands the reader’s needs and expectations.  As the narrative is turning to the anticipated central sexual encounter, the author ends the first segment of the story and continues it as an example of fin de siècle erotica, complete with expository dialogue and the characteristic reliance on adverbs.  The transition is abrupt, snatching the reader from the comfort of the established narrative with an abrupt reminder that the content is a fiction.  And again, once the reader has continued in the fin de siècle, and become suitably immersed in the narrative, Garcia-Sanchez again stops the story and begins in another genre: fantasy erotica. 

The playfulness of this approach is amusing and entertaining.  More than that, because the central characters in each story are essentially the same, the illusion of the varying narrators suggests, despite the change of genre and styles, the events have the coherence of a thinly disguised truth.

If you’re not familiar with the work of Garcia-Sanchez then this title is an ideal introduction to his writing.  If you are familiar with this author, then Coming Together Presents C. Garcia-Sanchez should already be in your have-to-have reading material.

[Read Ashley Lister's interview with C. Garcia-Sanchez in Between the Lines]

Ashley Lister
November 2010

Coming Together Presents C. Sanchez-Garcia
(Coming Together, September, 2010; ISBN-10: 1450511910)
Available at:  Amazon All Romance Ebooks

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© 2010 Ashley Lister. All rights reserved.

About the Author: Ashley Lister is a UK author responsible for more than two-dozen erotic novels written under a variety of pseudonyms.His most recent work, Swingers: True Confessions from Today's Modern Swinging Scene Virgin Books; ISBN: 0753511355), a non-fiction book recounting the exploits of UK swingers, is his first title published under his own name.
Ashley’s non-fiction has appeared in a variety of magazines, including Forum, Chapter & Verse and The International Journal of Erotica. Nexus, Chimera and Silver Moon have published his full-length fiction, with shorter stories appearing in anthologies edited by Maxim Jakubowski, Rachel Kramer Bussel and Mitzi Szereto. He is very proud to be a regular contributor to ERWA.
Websites: www.ashleylister.co.uk / ashleylister.blogspot.com

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