Richard Manton

Richard Manton is a prolific writer in the erotic chastisement sub-genre of erotic literature, and 'Pleasure Beach' is firmly in this vein. It describes the voyeuristic behaviour of a man who delights in photographing scantily clad young women, imagining the prospects of chastising them corporally for the misdemeanour of flaunting their attractive attributes. Following several brushes with the law and with moral outraged citizens he is fortunate to find employment with disciplinarian teachers of mature foreign females who may be coerced into allowing their mentors to castigate their hindquarters very severely in an unclothed state. The goings-on are related here by the erstwhile photographer, who is allowed to participate. Whether a reader finds such activity erotic is a personal matter, but Manton's style allows little emotional involvement with those being chastised, and although I enjoy much of the erotic chastisement genre I tended to find myself siding with the moral majority against the photographer. His multiple ventures indicate psychological flaws which are really only marginally erotic.… (mehr)

This book is two things: an anthology of Victorian/Edwardian erotic literature, and also an authoritative account of the publisher Charles Carrington, who spent much of his life evading the prudish vagaries of English laws that were directed against such literature. This required him to live mostly in France. The samples chosen for airing in this volume are hardly rare, as they are all widely available in modern editions, but they are not lengthy, and they still convey the message intended by their incorporation. The high standards of Grove Press seem to be largely responsible for the quality of the anthologising, as Richard Manton is well known in his work for other publishers for what sometimes appear to be obfuscation of the origins of works in this genre. The confusion caused by the use of differing titles, and failing to not provide helpful bibliographic detail probably helps sell books, but it often seems perverse to the critically interested reader. Here Manton excels, however, giving a bibliographic summary as well as an excellent account of Carrington and his associates in flight from the plodding Inspector Drew of the constabulary, whose antics are reminiscent of a ‘Carry On’ epic. The book provides a valuable introduction both to Carrington’s life and to the development of his publishing career, including the way his books evolved.… (mehr)

This slim volume is something of a clone of quite a few the several books that cover the Victorian/Edwardian sub-genre of erotic chastisement. As with not a few of these it takes the form of an exchange of letters between a man and a woman who share a passion for enslaving young women, mostly for erotic chastisement. Their friendship with a third such enthusiast leads to the establishment of an island so that they may use it as paradise for this purpose, and the book details the activities of all three with a substantial collection of young women. Some of it involves women encountered elsewhere, and the erotic use of a camera, also appearing in other works. The book rather fails to match even the fairly low standard of these other works, and it mostly seems unenthusiastic about its subject matter, reducing it to a routine that lacks quality.… (mehr)