I don’t know if you have seen this book by Robert Coover but it is a very unusual book. It seems to reflect my attitude towards spanking almost perfectly. Like the instructions on your shampoo, lather, rinse and repeat. The first copy had this cover but I misplaced it.
I just downloaded an ebook version and I did enjoy the cover art for this version.
Okay I don’t understand how the same story can be credited to a different author unlike this other edition.
But I am pretty sure the books are the same. Any way the story is set in a single site with a master and his maid. She is regularly punished for shortcomings and the tone is quite surreal. The description of the Times mirrors my own feeling about the book and can be found here http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/09/27/specials/coover-spanking.html. I just regret that spanking the help has gone out of fashion.
CS