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Message-ID: <37630asstr$1028272202@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: Crimson Dragon <dcrimsonp@nym.alias.net>
Subject: {ASSM} {REVIEW} {Reviews} Crimson's Top Stories - July 2002
Date: Fri,  2 Aug 2002 03:10:02 -0400
Path: assm.asstr-mirror.org!not-for-mail
Approved: <assm@asstr-mirror.org>
Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories,alt.sex.stories.d
Followup-To: alt.sex.stories.d

I truly hesitated before posting this list. 

The reasons not to post a top stories list are nearly endless. 
Not the least of which is that Celeste used to do this. No matter 
how I look at it, it seems unoriginal, a cheap imitation of the
real thing that is no longer available since she departed. Perhaps 
even worse, I only review a subset of the stories that are posted
to ASSM. The true gems of the newsgroup might be hiding outside
of my personal tastes, outside of my narrow reviews. The list
forces an order, a very subjective order, onto the stories most of
which I've read and thought were wonderful, and thoughtful, and 
sexy. Your tastes will very likely differ from mine, your ordering
much different. There are countless other reasons to avoid
ranking stories, and I'm sure that people over the course of
time will find them, as I have over the last few days.

And yet, and yet, I am nearly compelled to offer this list,
not as an absolute ranking of erotic writing, or even as a
recognition of outstanding achievement for the authors involved.
Who am I to dictate such things? I merely want to acknowledge 
personally, the dedication and generosity of some of the people 
that do share themselves with us, and deserve to know that I, in 
the very least, truly enjoyed their musings. I want to encourage 
quality within the group that we all enjoy, else we would not be 
here.

I suspect Celeste must have struggled with the same issues,
and I suspect that I now have a much better understanding of
what she contributed to the group, and how she might have
felt. I am not Celeste, cannot ever hope to approach her, but 
I do admire her, and what she contributed to this group, very much. 
It is within that spirit, a tribute to a wonderful idea, that
I offer this. I do hope that everyone can understand the motivation
behind my decision to release this list publicly. The decision
was not reached lightly.

Having ultimately reached a decision, I only began serious reviewing 
about in the middle of July. So, this first, and perhaps last, top 
stories list will only consist of five stories that I considered my
personal favourites amongst all the wonderful stories that
I've read over the last two weeks. If I continue this venture,
the list for August should be expanded to include more, I'm
thinking arbitrarily to set the limit at about ten.

If you are an author, and are not mentioned below, it is
not necessarily because I did not enjoy your writing. It is
unbelievably difficult to choose only five stories to rank
as my favourites. Most of the stories that I review are beautiful
stories, full of life, heat, and wonder, each with its own merits
and unique flavours. This is purely subjective, and not based on 
technical merit, or sexual content. It is not a vote, or a mindless
conglomeration of perfectly scored stories gleaned from subjective
reviews. It is merely a reflection of those stories that I enjoyed 
most, the ones that made me think, or smile, or cry.

- Crimson Dragon (dcrimson@yahoo.com)

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Crimson's Top Stories - July 2002

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#1. Tongue of Frog -- celia batau

#2. Impetuous -- Mat Twassel

#3. Betsy's Finest Hour -- Alexis Siefert

#4. Best Served Cold -- Night Writer

#5. Driving to the Sampras-Roddick Exhibition Match -- Lord Malinov


Thanks for the stories, everyone.

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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