Equinox

Equinox is a 1973 novel by Samuel R. Delany, and is Delany's first published foray into explicitly sexual material. It tells of a series of erotic and violent encounters in a small American seaport following the arrival of a African-American sea captain. It is a non science fiction work, though with fantastic elements. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction describes the work as "serious in intent, though likely to be shocking to most readers in its... more

Equinox is a 1973 novel by Samuel R. Delany, and is Delany's first published foray into explicitly sexual material. It tells of a series of erotic and violent encounters in a small American seaport following the arrival of a African-American sea captain. It is a non science fiction work, though with fantastic elements. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction describes the work as "serious in intent, though likely to be shocking to most readers in its evocation of the extremes of sadomasochism in imagery ... perhaps as a Baudelairean ritual of passage". Equinox was written contemporaneously with Dhalgren. Equinox is Delany's preferred title but the book was originally released under the title The Tides of Lust, a compromise with the publisher, Lancer Books, who wanted to call it Tides of Eros. When republished in the early 1980s, all ages of underage people who performed sexual acts were increased by 100; e.g. there were 109 year old children in the prose. The book was first published in... less