George Bataille's "Story of the Eye" made Playboy's surprisingly literate "Top 25 Sexiest Novels of All Time" list. Pauline Reage's "Story of O" is also there, as well as Ballard's "Crash," Henry Miller, Nabokov, and others.
Story of the Eye, with all the pissing and vomiting and usage of severed eyeballs -- maybe Playboy's readership's changed. Worst omission, if this is the level they're shooting for: "The Image," by Jean de Berg (AKA Catherine Robbe-Grillet, Alain Robbe-Grillet's wife). Or "The She Devils" by Pierre Louys. "Flesh Unlimited" by Guillaume Apollinaire & Louis Aragon.
Anyone have their own Top 25? I need stuff to add to my Amazon wish list!
-B.