Review and Reader Comments
Fantasies of the Future

Review by Gregor Samsa  

Sally Miller is a remarkable writer of erotic fantasies and she now has two books out at the same time: Fantasies of the Future and Hunterdon Girl Fantasies. The fantasies reveal so much that is interesting and controversial about the author! Both books are chiefly concerned with sexual fantasies, but both investigate other ideas as well. The pieces are short, ranging from one to six pages.

Fantasies of the Future has a feminist bias, many of the stories dreams of a world in which women are totally dominant over males. The stories sometimes are very funny, and sometimes may be scary to male readers.

“The Hyena” is one of the most intriguing, envisaging a world in which humans have adopted the social patterns of hyenas. Disgusting you say? Not at all! Zoologists tell us that hyenas have an admirable family structure, completely controlled by the smartest and toughest female in the pack. The males happily accept her authority, and, according to Ms. Miller, the adult members of the pack have a complex and very active sex life, including much sexual play.

“Personal Robot” is the exact counterpart of the male fantasy of having a humanoid female to satisfy his sex needs. There are echoes of the old Mills Brothers’ recording “Paper Doll” where the male hero dreams of having a paper doll to replace the lyin’ cheatin’ human dolls he has encountered.

A fantasy on aliens from outer (or inner) space, “The UFO Party” presumes that the ones you encounter will be benign rather than malevolent. I hope Sally is right, but I wouldn’t count on it!

“New World Order” bans all pre-marital sex, girls don’t get married until they are twenty one, and then for ten-year terms. Their fathers prepare them for physical sex. Here is a quote “…(it is) acknowledged to the whole world by marrying that women are intellectually and sexually superior.”

I was particularly interested in this one because I recently read a story on an Internet porn site called “The Ultimate Marriage Gift.” In this similar situation where women were totally dominant, males were kept naked and then led around by their owners with a leash attached to their genitals. The big public religion involved a designated male having one testicle removed by castration at the time of his wedding. The other testicle was removed after the birth of his last child. His penis was cut off after his last ejaculation on the occasion of his daughter’s marriage.

I suppose it all depends on how far one is prepared to go…

In “Queen of the World” the narrator says “If I need an engineer or a healer or a lover, all I have to do is call, and within half an hour my wish has been granted.”

Lots of luck, lady!

“The Treatment Man” is a very funny piece about enemas and sex.

“Shopping Complexes” foresees a future society very much like that of the ancient Amazons of Greek mythology in which males and females met only at a procreation festival. The resulting children were divided, boy babies being turned over to the males, and girl babies being raised by the Amazons.

The only story that actually offended me was “The Pet,” envisaging a future world in which males are pets of women. The males are treated much like dogs or cats, and I found this to be a degrading and menial role. There is a little logic in the story; in short, I see it as an extreme fantasy, perhaps dreamed up after the author’s experience of unpleasant human males in today’s society.

Hunterdon Girl Fantasies is gentler and more sensual. It’s interesting to see how much emphasis is placed on masturbation for both sexes.

“The Dead Concert” has a sensual blending of sexy music and the emotions of listeners. “The Farmer” is a rather sweet and very straightforward courtship between a widowed farmer and the female narrator. “The Guy Next Door” and “The Lady Next Door” are stories of exhibitionism and voyeurism both ways.

“Head or Golf” is a hilarious (and probably very accurate) account of a woman trying to get the sexual attention of a man who is watching a golf match on television.

“Phone Sex 15” is a very funny and wry description of a cool sex therapist who prides herself on her remote attitude toward her clients. In the end she gets hooked on one phone caller.

The greatest story of all is “The Wise Men and the Exhibitionist,” about a conference of men from all over, held in Minneapolis over Labor Day Weekend. There are solemn discussions of every sexual activity conceivable, long scientific speeches greeted with grave nods and sedate applause.

In the end the “Sally” character opens up her convention booth to all the conference delegates. At the back of the booth she drapes herself naked over a chair, then illustrates masturbation. The delightful thing is that all the pomposity disappears in the face of this exhibition, the delegates lose all their inhibitions, and the entire conference takes on an aura of good will.

I must say I prefer the outright sensuality of the Hunterdon Girl book. Fantasies of the Future is intriguing, clever, and imaginative. But the direction of many of its stories is very scary.

Are women really heading in that direction?

Read Sally Miller and make up your own mind. She is a lot more civilized than the more extreme of the feminists.

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