A Sport and a Pastime by James Salter (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1967)
In one of the most erotic books I’ve ever read, James Salter, a trailblazer in erotic realism, describes explicit sex in a literary way. He develops a subtle though poignant mind-play between two lovers; Phillip Dean, a recent Yale drop-out and a plain, working girl named Anne-Marie who is from the French countryside and who Phillip picks up during a trust-funded romp through the French countryside.
Thrown into this sultry mix is the un-named, compulsively vicarious narrator who clearly admits “none of this is true” and so may possibly be dreaming the entire carnal tryst between his friend and the girl. While a bit redundant in its Sun Also Rises-like indulgent cycles of gluttony and sexual appetite, Salter is enviably skilled as writer, exacting evocative imagery with a spare, succinct use of words. By the end of the short novel, Phillip is consumed by a wicked boredom that contrasts dramatically with the novel’s tragic ending (8.5/10)
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