15 years ago I read a very funny short story, which I think was by
Woody Allen in an anthology of his short stories. It was about a
husband's increasingly ludicrous fantasies while pleasuring himself.
I'd appreciate the name of the story, and in which book/s I can find
it, please.

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Clarification of Question by goverton-ga on 30 Oct 2003 00:20 PST

I'll clarify the question further.

I'm not talking about a book of erotic short stories here. The short
stories were all humourous and the story in question was certainly not
erotic!

I picked up the book of short stories while on holiday in Hungary,
though I seem to remember that the book was American (it was almost
certainly by an American author).

Hope this helps further in some small way

goverton --

I have noticed that several researchers (including myself) have failed
to come up with a candidate for the story you are seeking.  I think
(possibly wrongly, of course) that this is because the piece you
recall is not by Woody Allen.  I own all three of his published
anthologies ("Without Feathers," "Side Effects" and "Getting Even")
and none appears to contain the piece you describe.  Also, the story
you describe just doesn't sound to me like it was written by Allen, at
least not for the New Yorker, where most of his work was published.

Any other (non-X-rated) recollections you may have the content of the
story or the book in which it was contained could be useful.

markj-ga

Thanks markj - I was sure the book was by Woody Allen but maybe I was
wrong (I was young at the time). I read the short story on holiday in
Hungary, it was in English and it was probably written by an American
comedian if not Woody Allen. I remember that the fantasies came about
because the man's wife was unwilling to perform a sexual act. Also
that one of the fantasies was as ludicrous as the man and his wife
both being planets clashing with each other.

I'll tip if a researcher can still let me know the short story, even
if it wasn't by Woody Allen after all. Many thanks