Motel Fetish
Chas Ray Krider - Taschen

It may not be politically correct to admit to looking at half-naked women in their underwear, but Chas Ray Krider's beautiful photographs defy you to look away in this incredibly rich book from the boldest publisher around, Taschen. I became aware of Chas Ray Krider in a magazine a couple years ago and later found my way to his website, www.motelfetish.com. Chas Ray Krider's world is almost like a film noir dream, where voyeurs watch through pinholes in the walls of seedy motel rooms. Garters and hose, cigarettes and hard liquor, and page after page of the most interesting and exotic women you could imagine posed and slinking through motel rooms in a place where time stands still.

Taschen really outdid themselves on this book, and it was worth the wait! It is no slim volume at 279 pages. If you like your coffee tables like mine, full of artsy erotic books, then you should do yourself a favor and pick this book up while you can. Strangely, a recent trip to NYC puzzled me when I couldn't find "Motel Fetish" at any of my favorite, more liberal, bookstores. Obtaining a copy forced me to special order it from a local Barnes & Noble which doesn't carry any Taschen books. Many fans of tasteful erotica and lounge culture might not know what a gorgeous book they are missing out on.

Thanks to the internet, any sophisticated adult can have a copy. I flip threw my copy so often, I may have to order another one. The images, atmosphere and tone sucks you into the pages and makes you a part of Chas's delicious dream of a sinful world that seems more innocent than the one we're living in. "Motel Fetish" is such a wonderful treat in this increasingly conservative period. My sincerest thanks to the gifted and brilliant talent of Chas Ray Krider, the women who brought his fantasies to life, and to Taschen, a company that never stops looking for innovative material for us culture starved collectors. Every time I put "Motel Fetish" back on the shelf, I hope Chas Ray Krider is somewhere working on volume 2. Folks, buy this book if you know what's good for you.

Terry Osterhout
February 2003