The Gay Kama Sutra [Hardcover]

Colin Spencer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1997

This lavishly illustrated gift book is the first Kama Sutra for gay readers--and a celebration of the East's ancient tradition of spiritual sexuality. Each chapter is based on different lessons from the Kama Sutra, with sexual wisdom in a contemporary gay context. 100 full-color and b&w illustrations.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Kama Sutra, a compendium of Indian erotic knowledge collected in the 1st century, has long been viewed as a book not only of sexual technique but also of the art of love and life. In The Gay Kama Sutra Colin Spencer has attempted to bring the life-affirming erotic world view of the original (along with some of its more complicated techniques) to his discussion of contemporary gay male life. While the book celebrates gay male sexual love, it also discusses AIDS, relationships, homophobia, transvestism, gender, and politics. Its unabashedly pro-gay stance and ability to convey sexual information in explicit but nonclinical terms makes The Gay Kama Sutra an informative and useful guide.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr (September 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312167539
• ISBN-13: 978-0312167530
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #974,193 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A celebration of modern gay sexuality and culture, March 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Gay Kama Sutra (Hardcover)

The Kama Sutra has long been seen as a book of heterosexual erotic techniques and information about straight sex. In the Gay Kama Sutra Colin Spencer successfully transforms a text of erotic instruction and social etiquette of aristocratic yong men of nearly 2000 years ago into a modern celebration of being gay in the twentieth century western world. The Gay Kama Sutra discusses not only explicit techniques and activities but also the social and spiritual aspects of being a gay man in modern society. Love, politics, building a relationship, history, and self-image are discussed with the same positive affirmation as the books frank discussion of sex and the erotic.

Gay sexuality is not simply about sex but also about our gender identity, our community and our culture's relationship to the larger society around us. Sexuality, it shows, is about joyful living even in the face of discrimination and AIDS.

The book is illustrated with beautiful drawings illustrating the sexual acts and techniques being discussed as well as gay positive photographs and works of art. Men of all ages, backgrounds and body types are presented showing that everyone is beautiful, handsome, sensual, and loving.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just Call Me Pretzel Man!, March 11, 2000

By 

Bradford Limpert (Elizabethtown, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gay Kama Sutra (Hardcover)

After going through the various stretching, pubic conditioning, and sexual endurance excercises described in this book, my boyfriend could not beleive the positions I was able to accomplish! This book is fabulous! This book was the key I needed to unlock my latent sexual powers, and it was also the spark needed to ignite Raul's and my sexual relationship. I came out of the closet only a short time ago, and "The Gay Kama Sutra," with it's soothing and confident tone, gave me the courage I needed to enjoy my lifestyle and its fiery sexuality. Although this book did have a plethera of pleasing positions (my, what an alliteration!), it was a bit lacking in the "Advanced" category. But if you are enticed by positional names such as the "Shanghai Clam" and the "Reverse Butterfly," I strongly encourage you to purchase this book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Review of "Gay Kama Sutra", June 28, 2008

By 

J.M. Snyder "J.M. Snyder" (Richmond, VA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Gay Kama Sutra (Hardcover)

Okay, I will admit ~ I wanted more pictures. When one thinks of the Kama Sutra, one thinks of a variety of different positions in which to make love. This book briefly describes sixteen positions, several of which are just variations on earlier positions. In that section of the text, there are only a handful of drawings, which makes it hard to visualize some of the more complicated positions.

The remainder of the book speaks to homosexual life in broad, romantic terms. I found the author's style a little cheesy at times, and wondered how much of it was due to his mimicking the original Kama Sutra prose and how much came from his own grandiose ideals of gay love.

This book covers every aspect of gay love, from safe sex to love-making positions, from coming out to sexual games, from recognizing someone in love to acquiring a lover. Some mention is made of homosexuality throughout history, which was interesting to read, but overall the focus was on contemporary gay men in what I can only describe as an idealized setting.

I could see this book being very helpful to a young man or teenager dealing with his own budding sexuality. But for adult gay men, unless they are very closeted or only now discovering their homosexuality, this book is probably not the sexual guide they're looking for to spice up their relationship.