Hello A/all... New to the forum, but drawn to the discussion as moth to flame.
I discovered my nature when I read the Story of O at a tender age... fortunately, I had found conventional porn prior to that, so I have never worried about whether or not I am a natural Dom or an example of those who would say BDSM literature can corrupt. (Well, maybe it can... lol)

In any case, my contribution to the discussion is information regarding the sequel and the relationship between the two. The original author, whose name escapes, me at the moment, wrote Story of O as a love-letter to her lover... who, we can presume, was at least somewhat Dom...

The publisher, who I believe was either the lover or a close associate, truncated the story. It is true there is a different tone to the remainder of the story, but that is not unusual, since if it is to be believed, the intro to the second part (titled "A Girl in Love"?) states the sections were penned and posted serially, with no editing.

The "endings" discussed above were inserted by the editor, not the author!

Without giving away the contents of the second tome, it is true the tone of the tome changes, but not enough to influence me to suspect it is not written by the same author.

There was also a completely unauthorized "part II" that turned O into a Dom! It did have some interesting scenes... but not my cup of tea.

The original cut of the 70s film was quite different from what is on DVD. If anyone is aware of that issue and is aware of where to find that cut, please contact me...

The ten part mini-series I found very nice, and that brings us to some of the reasons why Story of O has had such persistence... The competition, by comparison, is practically puerile portrayals of non-stop sex. Story of O has a story... not a great one, disjointed, but definitely a step above a blog.

Don't get me wrong, I get off on every other (heterosexual) chapter of Rice, etc., but with Rice the comparison is extreme... Beauty versus a conventional title such as Exit to Eden (not her best) or the Lasher series... shows the difference between porn and erotica.

Oh, and I put in my vote for Laura Reese, too. Anyone read her? Wow. My vote for a latter-day "Reage", even if she feels compelled to hide her proclivities in detective stories....

It has been a pleasure, glad to have discovered this spot.

Master Scott