Twentysix

by Jonathan Kemp

Overview

In the tradition of Georges Bataille, Kathy Acker and Jean Genet, these twenty-six erotic encounters combine to form a highly charged alphabet on the pursuit of pleasure and possibilities of language. A nameless man graphically details his experiences as he cruises from parks to sex clubs in a relentless pursuit of pleasure and sexual gratification. Powerfully staging these anonymous encounters and describing each with luminous intensity, he continually tests the boundaries of sex, desire and the body until he is faced with the ultimate challenge: to capture adequately in words the physical sensations he experiences. Jonathan Kemp is also the author of London Triptych (Myriad, 2010) and Ghosting (Myriad, 2015).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780956792600
Publisher:	New Internationalist
Publication date:	11/02/2007
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Jonathan Kemp writes fiction and non-fiction and teaches creative writing at Middlesex University. His first novel, London Triptych (Myriad, 2010), was shortlisted for the inaugural Green Carnation Prize and won the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award. His highly praised collection of short stories, Twentysix (Myriad, 2011), is a milestone of literary erotica in the tradition of Georges Bataille and Jean Genet. His second novel, Ghosting was published to widespread critical acclaim by Myriad in 2015. His fiction and non-fiction has appeared in Chroma, the online queer literary journal Polari, Brand Magazine, and in the anthologies Best Gay Erotica 2010 and Best Gay Short Stories 2010. Non-fiction works include The Penetrated Male (2012) and Homotopia?: Gay Identity, Sameness and the Politics of Desire (2015, both Punctum Books).

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

'A series of original, highly charged erotic encounters... From cruising grounds to sex clubs, Twentysix is set to take the reader on a lyrical journey that explores the pursuit of pleasure.' – Attitude

'Emphatically, ardently, passionately recommended!' – Erotica for the Big Brain

'Twentysix sets itself apart by virtue of its own necessary bleakness. There is no fantasy to Kemp’s masterful prose as he portrays a realistic and sometimes heartbreaking outlook on the search for sexual fulfilment.' – HOMO

'Like Georges Bataille and Jean Genet before him, Kemp’s prose is titillating, dark, and honest to its core.' – All Letters Are Queer

'A dictionary of sex, an exploration of love between two men, two people, a case study of sexual encounters... haunting passages that surpass what we so often assume will come with the term 'erotica'.' – Stuff As Dreams Are Made On

'In this explicit book... is a meditation of the problems of recording the abstract in the figurative form... Honest and sharply written.' – Beige

'Steamy, saucy and stimulating.' – Gay Times

'Adeptly explores the dizzying heights and dark depths of sexuality. Kemp takes no prisoners as he consistently delivers stunning imagery which assaults the senses.' – Sosogay