Eros

A sexy modern take on ancient Greek myths.She keeps her eyes on me while she lights the end of my cigarette. I stare back at her. Something in the pills and in her eyes is opening up my muscles like hands parting from prayer, like trees breathing.Eros is a stunning collection of short stories, grounded in truth and coloured with dazzling imagination and alluring, unpredictable mystery. Revealing how queerness, nature and myth have been intertwined for eternity, these are stories of gods and goddesses. Of Zeus, of Eurydice, of Hermaphroditus, of Icarus before he flew into the sun. Stories of queer life, lust, revenge, wrath, passion and sex. Of yearning, love, loss. Some transformations span across a life, and others, an evening. Perspectives will shift. Houses will burn. Lovers will learn their fate. Zoe Terakes has skilfully blended myth and modernity to illuminate the complex and enduring truth of trans lives, resisting a history of erasure and delivering a sexy, soul-touching book to read to your lover . . . or yourself.'Goddamn, these stories set my queer heart alight. In finally making queer and trans undertones of ancient Greek myth explicit, Zoe Terakes has forged something both classic and eternal, timely and timeless.' BENJAMIN LAW'Fresh and timely . . . Immersive . . . Recommended for readers of Madeline Miller and Andrea Lawlor, this collection will not be easily forgotten.' BOOKS+PUBLISHING'Mucky and sexy, violent and shocking, tender and joyful, and constantly surprising - this is a stunning debut.' THE GUARDIAN'A vivid, confident and mesmerising debut . . . Terakes does not pull any punches, vividly portraying both the loving intimacy and cruel violence that are such hallmarks of Greek mythology.' READINGS'Should become a touchstone of queer Ozlit alongside works by authors such as Frank Moorhouse or Dorothy Porter or David Malouf . . . A potent mix of ancient and modern, undeniably touched by the Muse' SYDNEY MORNING HERALD'Vividly alive, hot-blooded, poetic and sharp' RUSSH