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“S/M Fiction [has become] unabashedly romantic...the endless
quest for love...Phil Andros...John Preston...Jack Fritscher....
Corporal-in-Charge by Fritscher is perhaps the best book of the
lot. It is a collection of short pieces, all of which deal with S/M
and individual consciousness. Like Genet’s work, Fritscher’s are
essentially masturbatory fantasies which deal in a closed world
of the imagination. They are as violent, cruel, and explicit as any
of the other writing [by Andros and Preston whose Mr. Benson
Fritscher edited]—and as romantic ....Fritscher is actually talking
about the fantasy of romance. His work is not romantic per se,
but rather, is how we think and talk about sex and romance....
Fritscher’s Leather Blues...is explicit sexuality with the theme of
the young man learning from the older. It is also a masculine ver-
sion of true love...between equals, both of whom have learned to
love themselves and one another. [Such transcendentally “cruel”
romance] explores and expands our sexualities—and our lives
and minds...a way to keep anchored to tradition so that we can
go out of ourselves without ever losing ourselves...Readers want
their sexuality reaffirmed, and graphically drawn...by present-
ing an S/M sexuality in the confines of romantic tradition...The
S/M makes the emotional content more varied and vital. It is the
romance which makes the more frightening aspects...palatable
and easier to deal with.”
—Michael Bronski, Gay Community News, Boston

“Fritscher...is at his best in his erotic, inventive use of language...
Fritscher is truly our Pynchon of Porn.”
—Thor Stockman, GMSMA News, New York

“Jack Fritscher and his high-brow, gutter-level ruminations [offer]
privileged glimpses of that unique cock-stiffening domain of
which Fritscher is the sole demiurge....As a writer, Fritscher is hard
to categorize....He’s a jittery stylist with a kinetic verbal sense....
[His style] works spectacularly....There’s enough ghettoized angst
to keep the Manhattan gay literati wired for months.”
—Aaron Travis/Steven Saylor,
Drummer Magazine, San Francisco

©Jack Fritscher, Ph.D., All Rights Reserved
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