Twenty-one years after it first appeared, causing much consternation in the lesbian community and a protracted censorship case in Canada, Macho Sluts returns in a new 2009 edition. A breakthrough of explicit, X-rated fiction focused on the lesbian leather community, it is one of those rare works that is actually well-written, as well as . . . well, hot, especially if you are inclined toward S/M scenarios.
In the intervening years since, the book’s author, Pat Califia, transitioned to a bisexual transman (Patrick), and the queer world has undergone its own changes. But Macho Sluts stands out as a “classic,” still able to educate and inspire, a relevant addition to an adult queer collection. This edition includes a new forward by the author, an introduction by Prof. Wendy Chapkis, (Sociology and Women & Gender Studies, Univ. Southern Maine in Portland) and background on the trial.
You might not have the nerve to place it in your collection, but maybe I’ll loan you my copy, if you get down on your knees and say the proper words.
Reviewed by, Morgan Gwenwald
SUNY New Paltz
