Review: Lie Down with Dogs

While it's a bit dated nowadays, Lie Down with Dogs is still a good movie about grabbing the bull by the horns and changing your life by deciding to just get up a go.

Looking for a fun, feel good movie about how to escape your normal life and have a fabulous summer? “Lie Down with Dogs” is Wally White’s story of his escape from New York City to Provincetown, that gay vacationland on Cape Cod.

I’m not going to try to give away the plot or even give much details of the story, as this is the kind of movie that is more fun to watch than to try to explain and I think that if I did try to explain the plot, the movie would sound a lot less exciting than I think it is.

I first saw this movie when I was in college and still living in NY. I had gone to the video store and saw this and said “oh my god I’ve got to see that, I can’t believe that they have that kind of movie here.” I brought it home and I laughed my way through the entire movie.

The movie follows Wally in NYC as he is stuck in a dead end job and with what he sees as a dead end life where he does the same thing over and over without any variety. After a hilarious breakdown at his job, he runs into a friend who is on his way to Provincetown and that gets Wally to thinking about how much fun it would be to go for the summer.

He decides to drop everything in NYC and go to P-town for the summer. He catches a ride with some other friends and from there, the movie is the story of Wally’s summer, from finding a place to live and finding a job to his attempts at finding love.

What he finds in the end I think is more enlightening than anything that he experienced throughout the summer and it’s something that a lot of us who live our lives in a repetitive fashion should really take to heart. I’ll save the revelation for you in the movie, but honestly, take it to heart.

As a person who lives in Massachusetts and now goes out to P-town quite frequently, the movie is also very cool because it was filmed entirely on location and just about everywhere the movie is filming, you can pick out places you know and people you may have met. The movie also pretty accurately captures the essence of P-town and that’s a pretty big accomplishment.

I would say the film’s weakest point is that it drags in some places. There are only a few areas (maybe 2) like this and you’ll pick up on them, it’s a good time to run to the bathroom or get some more popcorn.

The film’s other strong point is how it takes different assumptions and stereotypes in gay life and culture and examines and debunks those assumptions and stereotypes. Just because you are from a “square state” doesn’t mean that you’re a square and so on. In this way, the film does an honestly good job at examining these issues.

I haven’t seen this film on DVD, so I believe that it is only available on VHS and from what I have seen, it’s pretty cheap now. It’s definitely a welcome addition to anyone’s video collection. I’ve had it for several years now and I can say that I never grow tired of watching it, especially after we’ve spent a weekend out at P-town.

So take the time to get this movie and watch it! Then let go and have your own adventure.

Originally published on Epinions.com

ACCESS Gay USA

The Access guides claim to “make the world your neighborhood,” and their Gay USA travel guide is no exception, except that you’ll just be making major US cities into your neighborhood in this guide.

While nowhere near a comprehensive guide to gay life and activities throughout the country, Gay USA does a good job focusing on 23 cities and destinations in the United States that are arguably some of the most popular destinations for the Gay and Lesbian community. 

The cities and places covered include: Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Fire Island; Ft. Lauderdale; Honolulu; Houston; Key West; Los Angeles; Miami Beach and Miami; New Orleans; New York City; Palm Springs; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Provincetown; San Diego; San Francisco; San Juan; Seattle; and Washington DC. 

The Guide’s Layout 

Each city in Gay USA gets a chapter that follows a simple and basic format to provide the most information about that location in a fairly concise and easy to read way. Each chapter starts with a fairly detailed map (you’ll still need to pick up a map) that gives a general overview of the city and highlights the various locations identified in the text, or identifies where close-up maps are available further into the chapter. 

Then you’ll get an introduction to that city that hits on the history and highlights, especially for Gay and Lesbian travelers. It’s not required reading if you’re trying to figure out what is in a city, but it does give some nice background and helps you appreciate wherever you are visiting. 

Beyond the introduction you’ll find out how to get to the city, by plane, by bus, and by train, along with information on how to get around once you’re there. 

Still more basic information on the city is given, with quick highlights of all the important topics such as accommodations, personal safety, eating, smoking, street plans, taxes, festivals and more. 

The actual descriptions are broken down by the neighborhoods (or different regions) of each location. Gay USA provides basic information on services, dining, and attractions that are of interest to gay men. 

Each entry is color-coded (red – restaurants/clubs; blue – hotels; green – shops/outdoors; and black – sights/culture). There are several other symbols used in the descriptions, but all are fairly self-explanatory. They include the male and female symbols (alone one means that a location caters to gay men or lesbians, together it means they cater to both), a small wheelchair to represent accessibility; dollar signs to designate how expensive a restaurant, along with 1 to 4 stars rating the various restaurants. 

Each neighborhood’s (or region’s) description begins with a small close-up map of that neighborhood and highlights all of the places described in the text. The sites (accommodations, restaurants, clubs, etc) are numbered in the text and you’ll find the numbers on the map to help you figure out your vacation. 

Descriptions for all of the various locations (the accommodations, clubs, etc) are all quick descriptions. Generally there’s a short paragraph on the destination, maybe if it’s a restaurant it’ll be on a good dish, or for clubs, a description of the various theme nights they offer. After the quick description, you’ll find information on when the destination is open, its address and its phone number. 

You’ll also find quick little bites of information scattered throughout the destination descritiptions and a few more in-depth stories. For example in Atlanta, there’s a section on “Draglanta,” and you learn that in the 1980s Atlanta was the place to be for the world’s highest profile cross-dressers. There’s information on drag hotspots, along with some history. All in all, it’s a welcome addition to the fairly bland “here’s this and here’s that,” that makes up most travel guides and gives you a better understanding of the city. 

FYI 

Several sub-areas are included in Gay USA but aren’t evident from the original listing of various cities covered. For example the Boston section covers Northampton, MA and Ogunquit, ME, while Chicago also includes Saugatuck and Douglas. Other areas included are: Fort Worth; Aspen; Galveston Island; Laguna Beach; New Hope; Sedona; Jerome; Tijuana, Mexico; Russian River; and Rehoboth Beach. 

Experiences 

Call it my altruistic nature, but I seem to have collected an inordinate amount of gay stuff. I mean, I’ve never really been one who likes guidebooks, or needed a guide to gay destinations, but somehow Gay USA, along with several other guides have appeared on my bookshelves. I think my boyfriend must be putting it in my stack of books at Barnes and Noble (or the discount book warehouse) when I’m not looking, but either way, once I’ve gotten them, they have been useful, including Gay USA. 

I even managed to find out a thing or two about Boston while I was reading the book, including the fact that Boston’s Gay Pride Day is the single largest annual event in Boston. No wonder it seems like such a party every June! 

The information in the pages of Gay USA is extensive, but focused on the various cities that are covered. For Gay and Lesbian travel information outside of these major destinations, you’ll be left lacking and need to look elsewhere, like Damron’s guidebooks. 

Unlike some other guidebooks, Gay USA has left out the sex clubs and various cruisy places for gay men. Thus I guess for the more timid amongst us, you won’t have to blush when flipping through the pages of this book. 

While I know that there have been plenty of trips where my boyfriend and I never end up visiting a single place mentioned in the book, it’s a great start when you’re considering traveling and want to know what’s available to you if you are planning on being in the locations that are profiled. 

The book is also a great reference for people living in these cities, especially if you are new. Simply put, you’re never going to know every single place out there and the guidebook can help you discover a wonder that was just under your nose that you never noticed. 

Considerations 

I found this book in the discount bookstore for about $7 a year ago and I haven’t seen a newer edition than the 2000 edition that I have. While I’m not sure if there are newer editions available, Gay USA still proves to be a useful reference guide. While businesses may come and go, even an older guide like this one gives you a good idea of what is around and you should always be calling ahead anyway – and then you’ll find out if it’s still there. However, in a few years a good part of the information will be quite out of date, especially room rates and restaurant prices. 

Final Thoughts 

While not as indispensable as some other gay guidebooks, Access Gay USA does do a good job highlighting what’s available for Gay and Lesbian travelers in the various cities that are highlighted by the book. Though with time, if newer editions aren’t published, the information in this book will become more and more out of date and less useful. 

For now though, Gay USA is still a helpful guide.

Originally published on Epinions

501 Great Things About Being Gay

A tongue-in-cheek look at the things that make being gay great, Edward Taussig provides 501 reasons why we, over on the queer team should be happy with the way we are. 

No chapters, no stories, just 501 one or two sentence reasons why being gay can be great – that’s all that you should expect to find in this book. There are two or three reasons per page for all 232 pages of the book (which is a smaller, undersized book – about 5 by 7 inches). 

You have to wonder, how much time did it take Mr. Taussig to sit down and figure out these 501 reasons – most are forgettable, but some are genuinely funny. 

Now you are probably wondering what could possibly be so great about being gay? 

You’re the only one at the reunion who looks a lot better than you did in high school. 

or how about… 

You never have to find her “G” spot 

You see, this is a fun little book filled with reasons why being gay can be great at times. 

I’m not advocating however, that this is some sort of self-help book or anything of the sort. 501 Great Things About Being Gay, is simply a fun read for yourself and your friends. My partner and I will read through it at times and you can hear the laugh from the other room when he or I get to a funny reason for loving being gay. In my weaker moments of party planning, I’ve even been known to pull it out and use it to bring some laughs to everyone. Especially since… 

You know where to get impressive party nibbles 

and I couldn’t let my nibbles be wasted in a boring party. 

So in the end, 501 Great Things is a funny book that is worth having around to bring out a laugh or two when you need it. 

Well… 

Okay, maybe sometimes being gay isn’t so great all of the time – but books like this help us all see the lighter side of life. If you’re a gay guy out there looking for the occasional smile, this book is a worthy addition to that bookshelf. 

Some parting reasons on why being gay is great… 

If your mattress could talk, it would be Joan Rivers 
Brunch was invented for you 
You know that some of the worst social functions can be redeemed by two magical words: Open Bar 
You didn’t choose to be gay, it was sheer luck 

and my personal favorite (and summing up the tongue-in-cheek nature of this book at the same time: 

You resent any assumptions made about you because of your sexuality – including about half the ones in this book 

Gay Men's Wellness Guide

At first glance this book looks pretty intimidating. It clocks in at almost 600 pages and it is billed as “The National Lesbian and Gay Health Association’s complete book of physical, emotional, and mental health and well-being for every gay male.” 

And you know what? It doesn’t do a bad job covering all of that information – though I doubt anyone is going to sit down and read this book like a novel. It’s more for reference and referral. The chapters and even the individual sections of the book can be read alone when you have a concern about a particular topic. 

Just like many people have first aid or health books tucked away for emergencies, the Gay Men’s Wellness Guideis a book that can help just about any gay man when they need a quick answer to a question or have a concern about their health. Even if you don’t ever read some of the book’s sections, it’s nice to have a comprehensive reference for our health and well-being. 

What’s covered? 

It’s a whole bunch of information. The Gay Men’s Wellness Guide has six distinct parts that cover the major areas in any gay man’s life. They include: 

Health Care 
Here you’ll find information on finding a gay friendly health-care provider, information on mental health, common physical ailments, addictions, and alternative medicines. 

Sex, Safely: Coping in a Sex-Negative Culture 
Want to know about sex? You’ll find information on the mechanics of sex, orgasms, safe-sex, types of sexual encounters and for those of you who play both sides of the field, there’s a short section on what to expect if you ever have sex with a women (ok, I admit it, I’ve never read that one). 

You Are Not Alone 
Can you still be a masculine man if you’re gay? Questions like this are covered in this portion of the book. Self-images and body images are explored, as is attraction, aging, transsexuals, HIV and AIDS, intimacy, and you can learn how to better love yourself. 

The Big Picture: Awareness and the Visible Gay Man 
What’s the easiest way to fight heterosexism? It’s really for gay men to be open and visible to show the world that we aren’t any different from anyone else. Of course you’ll also find my favorite chapter here, “Women who Want to Fix Gay Men.” If you’re gay, you’ll totally understand. 

There’s also information on violence and abuse in the gay community, gay harassment and coping mechanisms. 

Men Can Have It All 
We’re no different than anyone else and we can have what we want. We create our own families we have one of the strongest communities of support out there. If you want to do it, you can – and you’ll find ideas on how to accomplish those goals here. 

Hope 
Being a gay man can be hard, there’s no doubt about it and the single topic in this part of the book is on dealing with the anger and the attitude that can easily develop in any gay man from dealing with the world. 

As you’d expect, each of six parts in the book are further broken down into individual chapters and those chapters are then broken down into the topics of that chapter. Therefore it’s very easy, right from the table of contents to find exactly what you’re looking for and flip right to that section. 

Perhaps you have concerns about steroids. Look under “You Are Not Alone” and find the “Body Image” chapter and then within that chapter, there’s a section on steroids. That’s just one example, but it’s not hard to find out any information you need. 

There are also seven appendices at the end of the book that cover a lot of ground. First you’ll find a glossary that does a good job covering many of the medical terms and more esoteric terms that are used throughout the book. Then there’s a list of medical and mental health organizations with gay and lesbian policy statements, followed by a selected list of state and local gay-rights laws. For those of us having trouble with insurance companies, there’s a list of state insurance regulatory hotlines. The other appendices have various bits of information including groups for gay and lesbian health-care professionals. 

Finally there is a fairly comprehensive index at the end of the Gay Men’s Wellness Guide. If you can’t find what you’re looking for in the detailed table of contents, then you should be able to find it in the index. 

Is it useful? 

Yeah, it really is. I keep my copy next to my big Harvard Medical School Health Guide on my bookshelf, so that I can always find them if I need them. While other books (like the Harvard book I have) might focus on the nitty-gritty diagnosis and explanation of disease and afflictions, The Gay Men’s Wellness Guide instead provides a gay man a great basic overview of how to be a healthy gay man. It covers everything from coming out, to having sex, to finding your community. 

Not so greats? 

The book was published back in 1997 and has been slightly updated over the years. However with any book that includes timely information (such as the contact information in the appendices, or the information on health care organizations), it will go out of date. 

A lot of the writing also becomes dated just because so many things change so quickly. For example back in 1997, I don’t think any gay man would have imagined that they could become legally married in Massachusetts, but it can happen now. None of the information on the gay marriage struggle is included. 

National Lesbian and Gay Health Association 

The National Lesbian and Gay Health Association published this book with the author, Robert Penn. They are a gay affirming health-care network for gay and bisexual men. There are clinics in Boston, Hartford, New York City, Washington DC, Baltimore, San Juan, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. 

Final Thoughts 

No one is going to sit down and read this book (well, I’m sure a few will) – what the Gay Men’s Wellness Guidereally is for, is to be a health reference guide for gay men. You can find answers on almost any wellbeing topic out there – from physical to emotional. 

Review of Drama Queen: The Gay Man's Guide to an Uncomplicated Life

Have you realized that your drama potential has crossed the line between harmless fun to a problem? Perhaps you're just looking for a book that will have you laughing along with each chapter.

Either way – and definitely much more on the funny side, Drama Queen bills itself as the “essential guide for recognizing, acknowledging and turning down the volume for every drama-loving man.” You'll be able to measure your 'drama-quotient' with a quick and easy test and by the end of the book you just might be able to find a “healthier option than accepting the worst and expecting the worst.”

Drama? 

This book skirts the line between being a completely humorous look at drama in gay lives and being a self-help book for those of us who might need to work on toning down the level of drama we subject ourselves too.

As the author Patrick Prices says in the introduction, for many gays we have a unique and oft-misunderstood dynamics in our lives. The goal of the book isn't too make you boring, but to develop a better understanding of what our own personal drama is and to find a healthier perspective on life.

What do you find in the book? 

There are seven chapters in this roughly 200 page book. Each delves into the various aspects of gay life and the drama contained within them. Throughout all of the chapters are various highlighted sections that are called out in text boxes. These tend to reinforce the idea presented in each chapter (such as “Drama' Petri Dish” or “Misery's Henchmen”).

The seven chapters include:

Drama is an Elective
The Friends We Keep
The Root of All Misery: Money
“I hate my job” is not a Healthy Mantra
Ready to Share the Wealth
Carry-On Baggage
Looking Ahead

As you can probably tell, the chapters follow a logical progression, from what drama is to how to move beyond having a fulfilling life that isn't quite so filled with drama.

What's interesting about this book is that it takes on serious topics like our careers, our friendships and our relationships and shows us in a funny way how acting like a drama queen simply isn't the healthiest way to approach situations. For something like compulsive shopping, Price doesn't just say it's a bad thing, we get to look at several different types of compulsive shoppers and while none of us may be quite as bad as the examples, there's a bit of us here and there. So when it comes to helping part, I think it gives you a better idea that even if you're not out spending on everything all the time, we could all use some help.

The same goes with a look at relationships. No relationship is going to always be a picnic and none will never be like a fairy tale. Instead they take work and they take effort and the book does a fairly good job at identify the major areas where being a drama queen is going to be counter-productive and end up hurting your relationship.

When you finish with Drama Queen you'll have been both entertained and educated a bit. I'd think that most people will find some helpful advice throughout the book beyond simply finding humor.

Thoughts 

You might think from the cover of this book that it's all laughs and humor and while the topic of being a drama queen is looked at with a humorous slant, the real value of this book is that it actually can help you find a “healthier option than accepting the worst and expecting the worst.”

I won't try to argue that gay guys are bigger drama queens than others (I've seen some pretty big drama queens in the heterosexual population), but I think we have a unique set of circumstances that makes the drama sometimes worse – or at least it can manifest itself in plenty of destructive ways that we need to be aware of. The great part of this book though is that it doesn't approach the issue from a critical viewpoint of the individual reading the book – but instead simply presents the stereotypical drama and offers helpful advice for improving our lives. No one wants to be called a drama queen, but if we read something that's funny and helpful at the same time, I think we're more likely to take some of that helpful advice.

Final Thoughts 

Drama Queen does an admirable job of identifying, explaining and offering advice for dealing with that various kinds of drama in our lives in a funny and humorous way.

Originally published on Epinions

Freshmen Magazine

While no longer actively printed, Freshmen Magazine is still available via back issues, along with yearly calendars and other merchandise.

Freshmen Magazine is monthly magazine that offers a collection of sexy photo shoots that feature younger, college age male models, along with some basic editorial content. If you like pictures of naked college aged men or have that hots for that frat boy and want to see what's in his pants – then Freshmen is for you.

Read the full review of Freshmen Magazine on Epinions

Jocks: True Stories of America's Gay Male Athletes by Dan Woog

There are few books that I have trouble reading or make me cringe as I read, but unfortunately Jocks: True Stories of America's Gay Male Athletes by Dan Woog was one of those books. Perhaps it is because the book seems so dated or the writing style. Whatever it is though, this book is like a snapshot of specific time period, which thankfully seems to be receding. Sure there is still plenty of homophobia and hatred in the world, but for a lot of what Woog talks about, times really have changed.

The book focuses on the lives of a number of "gay jocks" in the early to mid-1990s. Woog tells their stories of how they came to realize and deal with their sexuality. In most cases, it is downright depressing with tales of drug use, anonymous sex and plenty of other destructive behavior. There are some positive stories, but by the time I had forced myself to read this book, I think I felt more depressed than anything else. The lives of some of these people were horrible, partly from their own internalized homophobia, but also from the homophobia and fear that surrounded them in their various sports.

Read my full review of Jocks: True Stories of America's Gay Male Athletes by Dan Woog on Epinions

The Complete Guide To Gay And Lesbian Weddings by Keith C. David

When my partner and I started to sit down and really plan our wedding, we were interested in reading information on not just weddings, but specifically gay weddings. Sure one wedding is like another, but there are idiosyncrasies to everything and we wanted something that spoke to us. One of the books we ended up getting and reviewing was The Complete Guide to Gay and Lesbian Weddings by KC David and GayWeddings.com. Now this book didn't turn out to be our one stop information resource for our wedding, but it help us think through the event, cover things we hadn't thought of and in the end, I think helped us plan a really special and enjoyable day.

Read my full review of The Complete Guide to Gay and Lesbian Weddings by KC David on Epinions

The Gay Kama Sutra - Colin Spencer

The Gay Kama Sutra

I'm not sure that this book is even still in print, but The Gay Kama Sutra by by Colin Spencer is a decent book that attempts to adapt the original Kama Sutra so that it encompasses male homosexuality. Does it do that? I'm not sure how faithful to the original this text is, but the book does provide an overall look at gay men's sexuality and sexual expression. It's an interesting read and most gay men will probably learn a thing or two, though nothing earth shattering.

The book is illustrated with a mix of photographs and illustrations that depict a number of sexual activities along with men just engaging in life activities. There's also some art work that reflects the original Indian nature of the Kama Sutra.

Is this going to draw in every gay reader? Probably not, but the six chapters do hit upon a number of different facets of gay life and sexuality.

What you get in the book

The first chapter tackles the "art of love." I know, a pretty broad topic. What it boils down to is a discussion about life, male love and how to take care of one self in order to maximize your life. You'll find some history here, some grooming tips, and some ideas and tips on life in general.

Chapter 2 deals with making love. Here is where you'll find information on touching and caressing your partner, sexual positions, penetration, safe sex, fellatio and more. This chapter also is home to many of the illustrations, which are used to show the sexual activities versus photographs. While only drawings, there is a certain enjoyment I see in them versus just a plain old photograph of two guys having sex. Will most guys learn something in this chapter? No, you might think of a new position or two, but at least for me, the majority of this section is more exciting than educational.

The third chapter deals with the lives of gay men and their interaction with society. There are sections on men's basic biology, circumcision, love, bisexuality, coming home and a number of other topics. For someone who's pondering their sexuality, this is probably a helpful section, though it is a bit outdated considering nowadays there's legalized gay marriage in some states and overall the situation of gay men in society has changed for the better since this book was published in 1996.

Chapter four delves into games people play sexually along with riskier sexual activities. Things like pornography, shaving, toys are discussed here, along with other topics like S&M activities. There's also information on sexual problems you may experience, along with the potential for transmitted diseases.

In chapter five you'll learn about 'acquiring a partner.' I had to laugh writing that, if it was only so easy. However you will find discussions on falling in love, relaxing your lover, seducing someone and how to make it through breakups.

Finally in the last chapter, there is a short discussion on aphrodisiacs and massage oils. This chapter might be helpful for those of us who are looking to spice things up a bit. The massage oil suggestions are all quite good and do make for a very nice massage.

There's also a list of books that the author suggests for further reading, an index to the book along with a short introduction in the beginning of the book and acknowledgments at the end of the book.

Should I get this book?

Like I said, I'm not sure it's still in print, but it has been a fun book to have. We browse through it from time to time and there have been times when we've taken some of its advice. I wouldn't suggest paying the cover price for the book, but if you are a gay man looking to expand your horizons a bit with regards to your lifestyle and sexual activities, this might not be a bad book to pick up.

Final Thoughts

While a few sections are a bit outdated considering the books publishing date (1996), the vast majority of the information in The Gay Kama Sutra is timeless and should help most gay men spice up their sex lives at least a little bit. Not only that, there is some good advice on a healthy lifestyle here.

If you can find this book at a discount, I'd suggest picking it up. It's an interesting read that will provide some useful information.

Gay Sex: A Manual for Men Who Love Men by Jack Hart

I often wonder why books like this are published. Really, does anyone who's having sex really need a guide to it? Okay, maybe there's a term or an action I wasn't familiar with before reading this, but in general, I wonder what kind of audience really buys books like this.

What book am I talking about? Why, it's Gay Sex, A Manual For Men Who Love Men. By making your way through the alphabet with the book, you'll find information on the various ways that men can make love to one another.

What you get to learn about... 

What am I talking about? Well, think of this book as more of an encyclopedia of gay sex. As you make your way through each letter of the alphabet, several different words, representing sexual acts, ideas, health and other points are covered. For example, the first chapter, as you'd expect is “A” and contains the following topics:

Age differences
Aging
AIDS
Alcohol
Alternatives to the Bars
Anal intercourse
Anilingus
Animal noises
Anonymous sex
Aphrodisiac
Appearance

Not a completely exhaustive guide to everything gay sex related under the letter A, but it does cover the bases. It continues along like that for each of the letters of the alphabet. What about the entries themselves? The range in length from a few sentences (or even just one referring you to another entry) to a few pages in length. For example, I'll pick something that I didn't know about until I went to college – a dental dam, the book provides about 2 paragraphs on these devices, which allow you to do certain things without direct mouth to body contact (think of it as a flat condom).

Besides the text, there are occasional illustrations throughout the book to further explore certain topics. These drawings are pretty much exclusively for sexual positions or actions. There are also web links to further information located along with most of the entries, though considering this book was published a while ago, I'm not sure how many of the links still work.

At the end of the book you'll find a short appendix that includes information on AIDS transmission and risks during sexual encounters. This isn't anything new, but I suppose it's good to get reinforced and any sexually active gay man should be as aware of the dangers of HIV and AIDS as possible. Following the appendix is a bibliography to point you in the right direction for additional reading.

Is there useful information in this book? Sure, I picked up a thing or two while reading it, but I couldn't say that there was anything in there earth shattering that I didn't already know about. I had purchased the book as more of a gag gift for my partner years ago then anything else. That's probably the reason a lot of these books are sold – I'd think most gay men know most of the information here, but it makes for a fun gift and I suppose it can be a bit fun to read through and catch up on stuff that you might not quite know everything about.

Final Thoughts 

While most gay men won't find any earth shattering information in this guide to gay sex, it's a well written and easy to read book that provides plenty of information on gay men's sexual habits and activities.

I'm not sure I'd run out and get it, but if you see it in the discount bin or see a deal online, it's a good book to have and it makes a fun present for your significant other.

Originally published on Epinions

 

Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs

I love a book that can make me laugh out loud and that's what I got with Augusten Burroughs' Magical Thinking.

There were times as I was reading that I just couldn't help but laugh out loud and that's a testament to Burroughs' writing and humor.

After his books, Running with Scissors and Dry, this is a great collection of short stories from Burroughs' life. Though it's not just the strange, shocking, wacky or weird here, some of the stories hit on some pretty profound themes.

Read my full review of Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs on Epinions

Best Gay Erotica 2002

What kind of stories do you find in Best Gay Erotica 2002? As the title suggests, this book includes twenty three gay erotic stories. These stories have been collected as the best of 2002. I'm not sure exactly how one goes about finding the best erotic stories in a year, but I will admit that these stories are generally a cut above the typical stories that you might say find on the internet. For one, they are well written and edited and out of the twenty three, there were only a handful that lets say weren't 'entertaining.'

Read my full review of Best Gay Erotica 2002 on Epinions

Provincetown, Massachusetts

So you’re visiting Cape Cod in Massachusetts and you’re wondering where to go while you are there…

Maybe you’re looking for one of the premiere gay and lesbian destinations in the country?
Are you looking for miles and miles of undeveloped ocean beaches?
Do you want unique boutique shopping and world class dining?
Maybe you’re looking for artwork?
Perhaps you’re just looking for some wild nightlife to go with your beach vacation?

You can find it all in Provincetown – at the very tip of Cape Cod!

Read my full review of Provincetown in Massachusetts on Epinions

Genre Magazine

Is Genre superficial and shallow, mainstream? I’d have to say yes. Filled with fashion, interviews, reviews and dare I say it news, Genre seems to be designed for the stereotypical gay man. That is, someone in their late 20’s to mid 30’s, who is urbane, well off, completely fashion conscious, and who works out so much that their body is perfect.

There’s plenty of eye candy in every issue, young and built men modeling fashions that most normal mortals would look foolish in. There’s usually at least two separate photo shoots around a theme in each issue. The April issue focuses on “Down to Earth” fashions and models (they smear the models with some mud and put them in stonewashed denim).

Read my full review of Genre Magazine on Epinions

Out Magazine

Out Magazine positions itself as a lifestyle magazine for the gay community. Out is sort of a cross between a People Magazine and a Details magazine, but with a bit of a twist for the LGB community. Does it pull it off? Sort of, with interesting articles, some useful reviews and at times engaging interviews, Out is the proverbial “top of the heap,” when it comes to LGB lifestyle magazines. Well, as a matter of fact, Out is one of the few LGB lifestyle magazines that caters to the entire gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community. Most others, including Genre and Instinct both cater to an exclusively gay male clientele, while Girlfriends and Curve are for the lesbians. Therefore it has a tough shoe to fill, so I will give Out some leeway there.

Read my full review of Out Magazine on Epinions

Boston Spirit Magazine

Boston Spirit is a free bi-monthly magazine for the gay and lesbian community in and around Boston. The magazine is well written and interesting for most locals, though it does tend to fall towards the high ends of taste, when it comes to content and advertisements, so some people might be a bit turned off by that.

Overall the magazine does do a decent job at looking at gay and lesbian life in Boston, from the swanky parties to the latest fashions. It might be a bit rarer to find strong journalistic articles, but they are there – a recent issue had an in-depth story on gay cops in Boston and generally each issue has at least one well thought out and presented article on a topic that is of interest to almost any gay and lesbian resident of the Boston area.

Read my full review of Boston Spirit on Epinions

Instinct Magazine

Tired of magazines that seem to cater to a gay clientele that you have never met? How about the gay magazine where the biggest news is that Madonna was spotted somewhere? Instinct is neither, it is not like Out Magazine, or Genre Magazine, Instinct is fun and playful magazine for gay men. It’s irreverent, fun, sexy and interesting all at the same time. You won’t find the news reporting you find in the Advocate or (in general) the outrageous (and fairy useless) fashion spreads of Genre or Out. What you will find is a very readable magazine, one that just about any gay man, from about 20 years old and on up will enjoy. If you’re younger and looking for a great magazine for gay youth, search out an issue of XY because you won’t find much of use in Instinct.

Read my full review of Instinct Magazine

[2] Magazine

Tired of the typical gay skin rags where you have shot after shot of the typical generic gay clones? The 20-something, hairless, blond, incredibly buff and hung types not doing it for you anymore, or just tired of staring at the same old poses in photo shoot after photo shoot?

[2] is, according to their own description, a collection of America’s hottest erotic photography devoted entirely to hot-blooded, sensual couples in steamy, sexy passion and I would generally have to agree with that description. Having seen plenty of gay skin rags in my time, [2] is a notable exception in that it focuses more on gay couples making love and having fun instead of just the act of sex in their photo spreads.

If you’re looking for hardcore images, look elsewhere because [2] is more interested in showcasing hot men together in an intimate and sexually positive light where the steam is produced by the energy between the two men and not from the graphic sexual images that are in some other magazines.

Read the full review on Epinions.com

Unzipped Magazine

Unzipped Magazine is a monthly gay men’s magazine that in addition to providing some pretty sexy photo shoots and spreads of various models, also offers some interesting and sometimes useful reading material. Much like the common refrain with Playboy magazine, you actually could read Unzipped for the articles (of course, there are plenty of pictures too).

This magazine used to be published two times a month, with 24 issues a year, but a few years back they have reduced their publication schedule to 12 issues a year and in the process also bulked up each monthly issue. So instead of smaller bi-weekly issues, a single monthly issue is produced.

Read my full review of Unzipped Magazine on Epinions

Men Magazine

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