"Touching Fire"

(Erotic Writings by Women)
-edited by Louise Thornton, Jan Sturtevant, & Amber Coverdale Sumrall
1989
Recommended for everyone, particularly ignorant heterosexual men (and really, is there any other kind?). It's a powerfully beautiful collection of short stories, novel excerpts, and poems, about women loving women, women loving men, and women loving themselves...and i'm sure there was one about a cat, now that i think of it. The contributing writers are cross-cultural. An interesting facet of being a NYC reader is deciding which books to make your subway book. This was one i happily toted around and devoured in my moments of public transit. I didn't meet anyone as a result, but i enjoyed some curious glances in my direction. The most resonant and moving pieces were "Siesta", by Sumrall, "Touching", by Terry L. McMillan, and "The Game of Chess" by Sandy Boucher.