Homosex: Sixty Years of Gay Erotica

by Simon Sheppard

Book Overview

Nominated for a 2008 LAMMY Award! Simon Sheppard opens this first-of-its-kind book with a whirlwind tour of gay history as reflected in queer men's one-handed reading, from the era of World War II -... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0739488112
• ISBN13: 9780739488119
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

fantastic collection, interesting history

Not only does this anthology offer high quality gay erotica, it gives interesting historical and background information about the times in which these stories were originally published. For those who have preconceived ideas about what gay erotica was, is, and will be, this is a fine education on an underappreciated art form.

Great History & Smut!

There's no denying that lots of women love man sex - doesn't matter if you identify as straight, queer or somewhere in between, experience tells me a good percentage of you are turned on by the thought of two men ravaging one another. Homosex has plenty of that, but the fantastic thing about this compilation is that there's more to it than titillating stories. Simon Sheppard has managed to create a poignant, erotic history that touches on many of the major milestones of gay life in America through its erotica. What makes this compilation amazing, in my opinion, are the editor's notes that proceed each story. Sheppard does a great job of setting the context for each piece and helps to tell this history through his brief, yet informative notes. Without his thoughtful research, this would be just another loosely bound concept of a book that would be hot, but forgettable. The pieces included in this compilation cover sixty years and countless erotic fantasies. Even if you have little interest in the history lesson, you're sure to get off to the amazing stories!

A Blue Look at Us

Sheppard, Simon. "Homosex: Sixty Years of Gay Erotica", Carroll & Graff, 2007 A Blue Look at Us Amos Lassen and Literary Pride In the last few weeks I have reviewed several books dealing with our history. "Homosex" is an erotic look at the past sixty years of American gay life and this is a novel way to look backwards. Dealing with 60 years of gay erotic writing, this is one of those books that give us a different look at history. History as seen in erotic writing is something new. Going back to the Second World War, we learn that the gay erotica that existed was usually on mimeographed paper and smuggled in form Mexico. Today it is relatively easy to read porn just by logging onto the internet. Famous authors are represented here as well as those that wrote pulp paperback novels. Phil Andros who wrote about "rough trade" has a story from 1953 in this book in which a biker takes a farm boy to the barn. Richard Armory's 1966 classic "The Song of the Loon" is excerpted and it tells of a frontiersman who lives with Native Americans and finds a way to love them. Leather master, John Preston, famous "Mr. Benson" from 1979 in which a submissive guy finds the master e yearns for is also represented. Moving forward there are several stories from the 60's including an orgy at Berkeley, a war story about Vietnam and a story set in Texas. Sheppard has done well with his selections that spans the 40's, 50's and up to today. So what can be learned by reading gay erotica? It tells us how we behaved and with whom as well as shows us the changing faces of both gay life and America. The book contains many approaches and voices but porn itself has been looked at over the ages as a subversive activity--both reading it and writing it. Sheppard states that what he includes is not a definitive look at gay porn and he has used authors who identify themselves as gay or bisexual and male. Because a selection is included does not mean it is necessarily great but what it is, is representative. In his introduction Sheppard gives his views on the purpose of porn and his essay very much illuminates the subject. It is meant to arouse and this is, in reality, the purpose of all literature. Literature arouses emotions--perhaps not the same emotions that porn does. Erotica is also a means of education, especially in gay life. Those who are curious and have never experience gay sex can learn from porn what it is expected. Porn also carries a message of community. As silly as it may sound, in the early days of our movement, porn brought us and kept us together. And porn has changed greatly beginning in the 1970's when glossy magazines brought hard core photography out of the closet and onto newsstands and when video became part of almost every household. By the 80's porn had truly found its place and gay authors actually made the bestseller list--David Leavitt, Armistead Maupin and Edmund White. Porn began to reach a larger audience and began to serve a growing gay commu