The Evil Queen, a Pornolexicology by Benjamin Perez
introduction by Mephistopheles
cover art by Michelle Chang
ISBN 1-881471-98-5      $13.00 US  |  $17.95 CAN      240 pages

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Perez's use of language is achingly beautiful and, at the same time, disgustingly vile.
His willingness to delve deeply into the heart of transgressive language would undoubtedly
shock even Julia Kristeva. His raw examination of the truly abject is almost as disturbing
as his ability to wrestle his reader's sensibility into some vague acceptance of the notion
that this horrifying abjection is part of what makes us human: a troubling notion indeed.
At times I had no idea what to think of this work. It is resolutely not for the faint of heart.
Perez has an uncanny ability to cut through the polite, the acceptable, and the commonplace
as he takes his reader on an expedition that leads unflinchingly to the outer edge of the darkest
human desires.   bookslut.com

.....one has to admire The Evil Queen for its erudition and linguistic vitality, as well as its
wittily provocative recasting of gothic conventions.   Paulina Palmer, author of Lesbian Gothic: Transgressive Fictions

This book does indeed have roots, and the historical references in it seem like
deliberately-planted clues to their identity. Benjamin Perez seems to be following in
the cloven-hoofprints (the logo of the publisher of this book, Spuyten Duyvil) of an
earlier American writer, Ambrose Bierce, in suggesting that words can excite and
corrupt the reader.   Jean Roberta, thedomsview.com

The world presided over by the Evil Queen is a vaginal, elegantly crafted plane of existence
whereupon the title character enjoys utter sexual sovereignty in her castle compound,
which is as much a personality-bearing character as are such unexpected visitors as Lilith
and the Wandering Jew, each of whom is found to be intimately acquainted with the title
character’s sense of pageantry when they pay her a call.  In addition to a cemetery and a
chamber boasting over one thousand statues of the Virgin Mary, the residence of the Evil
Queen is also home to a massive spirit-infested pipe organ upon which she tortures souls
of the dead with every note that she plays.  These and other amenities of the title character’s
dominion Mister Perez renders in visceral detail, ensuring that by the time you reach the
end of this work, you will long, as I did and still do, for that world to swallow ours (but certainly
not before rolling it about upon the tongue for a bit).  Anthony Beal

Daring and very smart and full of structural thrills. It deserves much more
attention than it’s gotten.  Dennis Cooper (Blogspot)

The Evil Queen is oversexed, highly intelligent and intuitive, but also a vicious and rather
horrific character. Yet the book is oddly pro-female and very pro-cunt, mostly because you,
the reader, are a masochistic eunuch dwarf and you worship the Evil Queen from every
conceivable angle—even the angles you need a speculum to get up into.  Marilyn Jaye Lewis.com

Sacramento author Benjamin L. Perez has written a book that can only be described
as a genre-buster: poetry, prose and a bit of porn. It’s definitely for adults, preferably
those with some literary chops. His instructions to readers make clear that it is to be
read aloud and savored like “nectar on the tongue, or a cock in the mouth.” That’s a
good indication of the wordplay to come, with dollops of traditional, language and prose
poetry, as well as some passages that resemble literary word salad with sexual allusions
in the place of candied walnuts. Overarching all is a playful sense of humor, which notes
that scores of more than 245 on a scale of psychosexual self-evaluation indicate perversion,
while lower scores are indicative of repression. Which will we choose?   Sacramento News and Review

Book Review: By Charles E. Legions


Pornolexicology: noun (ca. 1910): A branch of linguistics concerned with the signification and
application of erotic and especially obscene words. 2) specific: a branch of linguistics concerned
with the signification and application of erotic and especially obscene words as a means to decipher
the lewdness Occidentalism-see Pornolexicologist noun.

[Sound of church bells behind black curtain-curtain rises]

And so my quest into the Pornolexicology began. This book is separated into the three following
Parts: The Crucifixion, The Resurrection, and The Ascension. The prologue is written bravely, artistically,
and with no bounds. The author offers humorous advice on what lies ahead; the erotic manifestos of a
genius obsessed with the obscure and the mind of the sensual, but dangerously likeable, Evil Queen.

In the process of reading this book, I experienced a feeling of elation and a delightful sense of insanity.
Words twisted past euphemisms as the immortal-evil queen screamed like a banshee across the page,
and further towards the Diluvium.

In this book you are taking the role of an onlooker and of several enslaved creatures that roam the inner
walls of the castle. You are under the control of a tall, sensual-dark-haired woman with pale skin. And
after much depravity, and washing of her flesh, you are thrown into her highly intelligent and troubled mind.
On page 163, 'Excerpts Recovered From The Diary of The Evil Queen' you watch her humiliate a nun, and
rip a walking cane from out the hands of a bishop; which is what she uses to beat him senseless.

Her diary reads like an archaic chamber of mischief, a highly enjoyable and enlightening read that I couldn't
help but laugh aloud to, and appreciate. Benjamin L. Perez writes with a soft-sharp tongue and a sense of
devious humor that compels you to read on. He translates Aramaic from the first century B.C. and leads
you into the secrets of history. His poetic style is wild and memorable; such prose can be discovered within:
Architecture, Prince Charming, Homunculus, and many others.

I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy lyrically-transgressive literature and well crafted humorous
depravity. Indeed, for the term transgressive literature is a term most used among devils, and clearly stated,
everyone in Hell is a literary critic.