By Doug Black

Written by: Stephen Elliott

Publisher: Cleis Press

Stephen Elliott introduces his short story collection with the disclaimer: “This is not a memoir, but it’s damn close. And I’m OK with that. And I’m OK with you knowing that.” Those unfamiliar with his subject matter may question the need for the plaintive, almost cathartic, self-affirmation. But in the aptly-titled opener, “First Things First,” it’s clear that Elliott is proclaiming his complete support, in both life and fiction, of sexual lifestyles many consider deviant. By the sixth page, we find the first-person narrator bound and gagged in Amsterdam’s red-light district while a leather-clad dominatrix burns him with cigarettes and uses a knife to carve his bare skin. Oh, and this is right before she dons a strap-on and “enters” him to the point of tears. Though entirely unsettling to the more puritanical reader, this scene is par for the course in a collection that is at once teeming with violent sexual encounters and damaged characters while maintaining a curious level of sentimentality. Using austere, unpretentious prose, Elliott’s 10 tales follow an abused masochist who’s immediately disarming in his innocent, feeble demeanor while he searches various urban landscapes for love in the shape of dominant women (and occasionally men) willing to abuse him in myriad kinky ways. Fact or fiction, Elliott’s stories can jolt even the bawdiest reader, while remaining just as emotive as other, less aberrant love stories. 

Reads Oct.18 at Happy Ending Lounge, 302 Broome St., 212-334-9676; 8, free.