Isn't "Meaty Pleasures" a perfect title for a collection of very carnal stories? From the first sight the book and the cover got me hooked and I was very curious to read it.

Monica Lavin has a unique talent for what I call "sensual writing". Her stories evoke all the senses: the sight, the taste, the touch, the smell, the hearing. Lavin creates the worlds that the reader can truly immerse in. For the author, eroticism is not exclusive to beautiful, wealthy characters, as we often see in contemporary erotica that if filled overly aestheticised depiction of sex, and depicts the right types of people who are allowed to engage in it. Quite the contrary. In her stories pleasure, meaty or not, can be found in various settings--from dance parties in "bad neighbourhoods" to cheap motels, and intimacy can occur between long-term partners and acquaintances, as well as complete strangers.

"Meaty Pleasures" are not as descriptive when it comes to portraying sex, as readers of erotica might be used to. Sexuality and sensuality in Lavin stories lay in exploration, interaction, energy between the characters. It's not necessary your literary "masturbatory aid", but an opportunity to explore different shades of erotic experience, that do not always include actual sex.

One thing that should be looked into, are trigger warnings. Some stories toy with very taboo subjects and desires, such as sexualising non-consent and actual incest, and as they are explorative, this subjects might be very upsetting or re-traumatising for some readers.

The book is right between “Delta of Venus” by Anais Nin and “Bad behaviour” by Mary Gatskill, in a Mexican setting. We have a voyeuristic look into the maid at a hotel who quietly celebrates and longs to be part of a mysterious couple’s ritual, the runaway wife who meets her online lover IRL, the cheated husband who eats eggs every day and many other everyday characters. Although each story is different, the theme of desire and longing, unrequited love and secret affairs entwine them. Each story is told as if the narrator is telling us their dirty secret in a bar.