Measuring Up — Alexandra Amalova

The ability to compare, to weigh-up, then choose the best of possible options, gives a species a distinct evolutionary advantage. Whether it be territory, prey, an escape route, or a prospective mate, an informed decision can mean the difference between survival and extinction.The most sophisticated of Earthly species, humans are exposed to a dizzying array of options, some for which evolution has prepared us, and many for which she has not. Our capacity to recognise right and wrong and our ability to consciously choose between the two, makes us unique amongst the planet's myriad species, and yet we still unconsciously answer to the commanding call of the wild. The treacherous shadowland between morality and base instinct provides the common backdrop to these concise but intense histories.Throughout our lives, we are daily measured, first against our siblings and our peers, then later, against our colleagues and our adversaries, be it in the classroom, in the board-room, on the playing field, or in the bedroom. Sometimes the measurements are subjective and abstract: one's empathy, likability, or one's capacity for love, for example. Other traits are more objective and manifest: publicly, one's height and weight, or one's fleetness of foot or thought, may be under scrutiny. More privately, the length and width of one's cock, or the tightness and taste of one's cunt, may well be matters for praise, for ridicule, or for intense intimate debate.And so to the stories themselves. Nothing herein is throwaway. Don't expect to flick through, flop it out, and simply mop up and bin the inevitable results. There's not a tissue absorbent or strong enough to wipe these slick salacious parables from your psyche; the sweet stain shall long remain.Across disparate, often desperate scenarios, from literal tragedy to surreal comedy, from soft-porn to hard-core, the mentally and physically torn protagonists struggle hard against the sexually-charged and often life-changing circumstances in which they find themselves. Sometimes they succeed. And sometimes they succumb. But they try. They always try to do the right thing.This latest collection is a natural successor to Alexandra's previous publication, 'The Big Bag of Sexy Allsorts', and sits beautifully alongside all eight of her previously published works.