''Jewel of the Moon'' (1985) is a collection of short stories by American author

William Kotzwinkle William Kotzwinkle (born November 22, 1943) is an American novelist, children's writer, and screenwriter. He was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. He has won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel for ''Doctor Rat'' in 1977, and has also wo ...

. The beautiful and erotic title piece concerns a couple who observe 13 months of subtle sexual foreplay leading up to the inevitable moment of cosmic release. A number of the short stories collected in the volume had been first published in '' Omni'' and ''

Penthouse Penthouse most often refers to: *Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building *Penthouse (magazine), ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine *Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly u ...

'' magazines.

Reception

Carolyn See Carolyn See (née Laws; January 13, 1934 – July 13, 2016) was a professor emerita of English at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the author of ten books, including the memoir, ''Dreaming: Hard Luck and Good Times in America'', a ...

of ''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' noted that "these stories are so varied in tone that if you like some, you probably won't be able to stomach the others: the volume is a mixed review." In the ''

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

'' William Mingin wrote, " otzwinklewrites colorfully, with a good eye for detail ... and the easy flow of someone with a natural talent for words. He is often funny, and it is easy to smile at his cheery, if sometimes adolescent, eroticism. But while nothing here is ill-written per se, nothing is memorable, either. The reader looking for more than having his chin chucked by the author will eventually become cranky. Kotzwinkle is good enough to tease, but he almost never delivers." James E. Alexander of ''

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...

'' remarked, "In these short stories ... the author stretches the surreal limits of the imagination into worlds enchanted and bizarre, beautiful and insane. Yet the reader isn't put off by this, rather he rides along, knowing the roller coaster is going to fling him down and up, tingling his risibilities one moment, churning his stomach the next."''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', 11 January 1986, "Kotzwinkle Takes Readers on Roller-Coaster." p. 14.

References

1985 short story collections Erotic short story collections G. P. Putnam's Sons books American short story collections {{1980s-story-collection-stub