Ten best books of erotic short stories

Ideal for one's own pleasure and expanding boundaries, erotic tales can go far beyond the imagination. Check out our list with the best of erotic-sexual literature. 

Far beyond the famous bestseller "50 Shades of Grey," for centuries writers have struggled to express sexuality in books. Within the erotic-sexual literature we can find true classics from great authors such as Henry Miller, Philip Roth, D. H. Lawrence, Charles Bukowski, Georges Bataille and, of course, the Brazilian João Ubaldo, who broke paradigms when he launched "The House of the Dandy Buddhas".

We have selected 10 of the best books of erotic tales for your bedside table. Check them out below:

1 - The 100 Best Erotic Stories in Universal Literature - Various


Gathering the best "erotic speeches", this book organized by Flávio Moreira da Costa is a great sampling through literature: Sacher-Masoch, Machado de Assis, Gustave Flaubert, Hilda Hilst, William Shakespeare, among others.



2 - 120 Days of Sodom - Marquis de Sade


Four rich, libertine men locked in a castle for four months, together with 46 other people incarcerated-wives, teenagers, pimps, servants-they venture out sexually and as the days go by, the consequences can be disturbing.



3 - Tropic of Cancer - Henry Miller


Published in the United States in 1934 and banned for being pornographic, this classic is all narrated in first person and depicts Miller's lived experiences in Paris - places, artists, and intellectuals who sought to compensate for the empty life with sexual adventures.



4 - History of the eye - Georges Bataille


With a lot of sensuality, extravagances, and sexual desire, in a surreal vision of the sexual discoveries of the narrator and Simone, this classic is admired by great names in literature such as Julio Cortázar and Roland Barthes.



5 - Women - Charles Bukowski


In this book by Charles Bukowski you will find the story of a 55-year-old alcoholic writer with a strong sexual appetite. As the plot unfolds we can follow his involvement with each of the women.



6 - Delta of Venus - Anaïs Nin


Written in the 1940s, this collection of short stories presents stories set in European settings involving prostitutes who satisfy sexual desires. Presenting feelings of overcoming and liberation, in the preface the author writes that "Sex loses all its power and magic when it becomes explicit, mechanical, exaggerated, when it becomes a mechanized obsession."



7 - The House of the Ditto Buddhas - João Ubaldo Ribeiro


Originally published in the "Pleno Pecados" series in 1999, the plot is narrated by a 68-year-old woman from Bahia, in Brazil. In the book she describes her life in detail, living pleasures and endless possibilities of sex. According to the author, the story is based on real testimony that was sent to him in a package.



8 - The Sabbath Theater - Philip Roth


The story of the book centers on a retired puppet artist named Mickey Sabbath, who goes into an existential crisis after years of an extramarital relationship with a woman 12 years younger. This novel is considered one of the most expressive in 20th century American literature.



9 - Lady Chatterley's Lover - D. H. Lawrence


Printed secretly in Florence in the 1920s, the publication of "Lady Chatterley's Lover" was allowed only after 1960. The forbidden words and explicit sex scenes scandalized British society at the time. The narrative centers on a girl from a liberal bourgeois family whose husband is sent off to war and returns paralyzed from the waist down. Thus, the young girl begins a sexual adventure with a gamekeeper.



10 - One Hundred Brushes Before Going to Bed - Melissa Panarello


Published in 2003, the Italian writer, a fan of Anaïs Nin and Vladimir Nabokov, narrates in detail the loss of her virginity at the age of 15 - S&M sessions, affairs with married men and women, orgies. With millions of copies sold, the book caused a stir upon its publication.
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