Waiting to Exhale

The seed of the book was first sown in 2006 when Joshi sent out invites to several authors. “I enjoy writing as well as reading about sex and violence,” says Joshi. “To me,it just seemed like an obvious idea that we should have an anthology of good erotic writing,” he adds. Although there were a few rejects,Joshi is satisfied with the mix of authors and erotica he has gathered for the anthology. The book begins with Basu’s The Wedding Night Or,Bachelor’s Boudoir,a story about a group of friends who find themselves in compromising positions as the night wears on. There is an extract from Rana Dasgupta’s recently released novel Solo as well as one from poet-musician Jeet Thayil’s upcoming novel.

There are more women in this anthology than men with voices such as Abeer Hoque,whose delightfully frothy piece Confessions is about how the joys of self-adoration escaped her in her early years and Paromita Vohra,whose story Tourists is one of the most visual as well as fantastical pieces of erotica in the collection. “I think it comes with being a screenplay writer and a filmmaker,as your work tends to be visual. Besides,erotic writing is about evoking all the senses and as an author,one is hoping that one’s work will pleasure the reader in some way,” says Vohra. With seven more stories in the collection that will have you curling up or down,feel free to sigh at intervals.