Serge Safran's 'Heures tendres': Erotic Short Stories

Serge Safran, director of Éditions Zulma and author of 'L'Amour gourmand' on 18th-century gastronomic libertinage, releases 'Heures tendres' with Éditions La Musardine. The collection comprises about forty erotic short stories, often very brief, written in a lapidary style. They depict encounters, sexual situations, and life fragments like buried memories resurfacing. The book avoids pornography—sex is named but never described—instead offering eroticism in small touches. The shortest stories are best, with economy of words and a knack for punchlines. In 'La Prestation,' a few sentences create genuine anxiety. The tone remains light, with apparent crudeness (frequent use of 'encule') balanced by freshness and innocence. Little violence appears, though some texts show a struggle between desire for love and purity versus a pull toward bestiality. Thoughts stay 'gently corrupted,' with only fleeting hints of a whip. The title promises 'tender hours,' and the author could be called 'éromantique,' a neologism from one of his stories. The same publisher also releases Safran's diary 'L'Année Alison,' about surviving love at age 36.