Nymph

Francesca Lia Block`s edgy tales of the Los Angeles dreamscape that is `Shangri-L.A.` have thrilled millions of readers and literary critics alike. The author of Weetzie Bat, Violet & Clare, Dangerous Angels, Girl Goddess #9, and several other best-selling novels now brings her sensual, dream-like fantasies full circle with this work for adult redaers, NYMPH. As in her other works, Block weaves together themes of subtle magic, youthful hopes, modern urban decay, and deep emotion, told with lyrical storybook language.The stories in NYMPH bear all the hallmarks of classic Francesca Lia Block--punk spirited characters who celebrate love, life, and art-- with one important different: this time the author carries her vision through the full range of emotion and erotic interaction that her mature audience craves. An interconnected series of stories, NYMPH is a special journey through the lives and loves of characters like Plum, a Crayon-haired girl who has a gift: if she makes love with a person, that person will then meet their true love, or Tom, a burned out surfer whose luck changes when he is rescued by a mysterious, wheelchair-bound woman, or Sylvie, a chronically depressed poet who finds beauty in unexpected places.Block`s erotic explorations of these smoky, kaledioscopic fables are anything but conventional; these are stories of love, loss, and life, about the healing power of sex and bonding.

Publishers Weekly

The author of the beloved Weetzie Bat books and other popular YA titles offers a slim collection of adult stories, erotica for grown-up goth maidens and sexpots who like their tales of passion infused with witchy magic. These nine interconnected tales celebrate carnal delights and the transformative power of love, with occasional lapses into syrupy repetition, but they also peek compassionately into romances laced with themes of grief, heartbreak and renewal. A bummed-out surfer gets a second chance at happiness when he meets a beautiful woman in a wheelchair, who may or may not be a mermaid. The spirits of these lovers mythically revitalize the relationship between Sylvie and Ben, a couple whose sex life is on the skids when Sylvie's antidepressants flatten her libido. Sylvie reappears elsewhere, as the sister of a cancer patient, David, who dies in spite of a loving nurse's attempt at sexual healing. Another recurring character is Plum, who has "the gift of love": those she sleeps with meet their true love soon after. Plum is therefore always being left: in "Milagro," she shares an idyllic night with the boy she loves, only to find out he's gay; in another story she sleeps with Sylvie, allowing Sylvie to meet Ben. Plum discovers that her gift can come full circle when she wins the love of aspiring actor Elvis Dean, who has been inconsolable since his girlfriend Coco left him to become a stripper and was mutilated by a plastic surgeon. All set in Los Angeles, Block's tales feature her distinctive simplicity and sweetly sleazy downtown dreamers; the sex scenes are heady though hazy with a mystical slant that blunts the erotic edge and makes the collection palatable for hardcore romantics. (June) FYI: Nymph is Circlet Press's first hardcover title. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|