This is an extraordinary book, one whose point seems to have been missed by the reviewer in 2000. It is experimental writing, breaking most of the conventions, and as such it is rare in the erotic genre, only Robert Coover’s fine exploration of the nature of arousal in his ‘Spanking the Maid’ being well known in that vein. In ‘The Headmaster’, seeming misidentified here by Amazon (the illustration and synopsis match the book I here describe). The subject of this book is, similarly, chastisement, humorously set in an educational context although its real import falls well within the erotic equivalent of chastisement. The headmaster is portrayed as initially eccentric, having concentrated all disciplinary activity at his school under his own direct command, but his behaviour quickly reaches the bizarre and finally achieves the surreal. The book’s narration is undertaken mischievously by one Heidi Bunn, who both expects and is awarded suitable retribution for her various entrapments. Undressing, strapping and caning occur very frequently, as does the satisfaction of the headmaster’s lusts. The book could be seen as ingenious or merely tedious, but I found it an amusing romp through the more light-hearted aspects of the punitive/erotic genre. ( )