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Erotic literature - Erotic fiction

Erotic literature - Erotic fiction: Encyclopedia II - Erotic literature - Erotic fiction

Erotic fiction is the name given to fiction that deals with sex or sexual themes, generally in a more literary or serious way than the fiction seen in pornographic magazines and sometimes including elements of satire or social criticism. While there are substantial quantities of written pornographic works, very few of these come near the standards of the best of mainstream literature. Works of significant literary merit that can be classed as erotic literature include: Verbal Penetration by Jessica Ho ...

Erotic literature: Encyclopedia II - Erotic literature - Erotic fiction

Erotic literature - Erotic fiction

Erotic fiction is the name given to fiction that deals with sex or sexual themes, generally in a more literary or serious way than the fiction seen in pornographic magazines and sometimes including elements of satire or social criticism.

While there are substantial quantities of written pornographic works, very few of these come near the standards of the best of mainstream literature.

Works of significant literary merit that can be classed as erotic literature include:

Verbal Penetration by Jessica Holter, The Punany Poets
The Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence
Ulysses by James Joyce
Delta of Venus by Anaïs Nin
The Story of O by Pauline Réage
Ada, or Ardor by Vladimir Nabokov
The Bicycle Rider by Guy Davenport

Romantic novels are sometimes marketed as erotica—or vice versa, as "mainstream" romance in recent years has begun to exhibit blatant (if poetic) descriptions of sex.