These Two Novellas By The Groundbreaking, Fearless, And Immeasurably Influential Robert Coover Are Dirty, Funny And Brilliant. In Briar Rose A Sleeping Beauty Is Trapped In An Enchantment For A Hundred Years, Dreaming Of Stories In Which Someone Like Her Wakes Up Disappointed, Or Becomes A Mother, Or Is Stripped And Defiled. And, As She Dreams, Outside, Failed Princes Die And Hang Their Remains On The Thorns Of A Briar Hedge. In Spanking The Maid A Maid And Her Master Are Each Committed To Their Own Hard Service: She, Attempting To Perform Her Simple Duties Without Error; He, Supplying Punishment By Rod, Belt, Hairbrush, Whip, Cane And Slipper When She Inevitably Fails. These Tales Of Desire Are Coover At His Most Darkly Playful.