Customer Reviews

The Ins and Outs of Gay Sex

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a young (25) gay male it can be hard to find good solid information on sex. Even living and dating in Los Angeles I am amazed at how much false information I encounter. This book puts an end to all of that. The Author is a doctor and gives plain straightforward information and advice about all aspects of gay sex. Make no mistake about it this is a factual and medical book, but it reads a lot smoother than you would think. I really enjoyed it and once I got into it I could not put it down. Read it and get the information you need as a Gay man.

When I decided to buy this book I was hoping for some insight info about sex with men. I am bisexual and in my country (southern Europe) sex between men is just something that nobody discusses...Dr. Goldstone knows what he is talking about, he is blunt but very informative; he goes straight to the point and gives you lots of important information on how to take the most out of gay sex and be disease free...You definitely have to read this book, even if you have been in bed with thousands of men and think "you know it all"...believe me...you don't...

Since 'In's and Out's'' is one of the best selling guides online currently I probably would have just purchased it had I not taken a 'browsing' trip to a local bookstore. It's an extremely detailed compendium of VD's and skin conditions including illustrations of various lesions for easy identification. Now, other manuals (gay, straight or whatever) have a chapter for these things too but this book spends an inordinate amount of time on them at the expense of other areas which is why I think some other reviewers here note that the book at times seems to be more about the (un)joy of gay sex than the joy of. I certainly find it hard to imagine a 'straight' sex guide of this brevity spending such large chunks of space on VD's at the expense of, well, sex. There's certainly little that really conveys the 'Joy of Sex' here or any spiritual, holistic aspects of it. The book appears to have been written with the promiscuous person in mind (and I don't mean to be in any way judgementmal here), recommending scrubbing oneself down in the shower after each sexual 'encounter' (not too romantic) and pretty much treating VD's as a fact of life that you probably WILL encounter. It's also full of a lot of comments from the author based upon personal sentiments (such as that it's terrible for men to go out with facial stubble cause it's 'rough') that would have been better left out since not everyone share's Goldstone's taste.

(...)

For almost two decades, many have viewed the AIDS epidemic as paramount among gay men's health concerns. While never ignoring its centrality, Goldstone reminds his readers that there are myriad other considerations not only for self-identified gay men but for all "men who have sex with men." Among the wide range of sexual practices and concerns Goldstone covers are anal intercourse, sexually transmitted viral and bacterial infections, impotence, oral sex and HIV transmission, as well as recreational and prescription drug use and abuse. He also discusses ancillary cultural issues such as how being monogamous, living in an open relationship or having numerous sexual partners can affect safe sex practices. Goldstone's medical information is up-to-date and accurate; although, as he points out, treatments for AIDS change almost monthly. While the book covers the safety and health aspects of body piercing, its lack of information about the health implications of the wide range of sadomasochistic practices prevalent in the gay male community is a drawback. On the other hand, Goldstone has a positive, nonjudgmental attitude toward sex. This openness, combined with a chatty style (replete with bad jokes and not very subtle innuendo, reminiscent of David Reuben's Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Sex (but without the moralizing), makes Goldstone's book unusually reader-friendly.

All things considered, I expected this to be a somewhat dull read, a little too technical because it was penned by an MD. I couldn't have been more wrong. Not only is this book very informative and up to date, but it's written in a hugely entertaining and, yes, erotic, style. Sex manuals are very helpful when you have a date, but sometimes they can also be good company on those lonely nights when you don't have a man. This book is one of the best gay sex manauls available.

I have read only four chapters in "The Ins and Outs of Gay Sex" so far, and each page is filled with information worth reading. I have read other books on gay issues before, but nothing compares to Stephen E. Goldstone's innovating and probing medical handbook. There are issues Stephen discusses in this book that scares you into taking just anyone into your bedroom, but it's reality and it needs to be taken seriously. This is the only book that I've come across in years that piques my interest. Thank you, Stephen Goldstone.

This book provides lots of useful information about the parts of our bodies that we are not always comfortable talking about (in my case - my backside) I wish this books had come out a year ago, it would have saved me a lot of pain and worry. I think everybody should have copy!

The topics that are covered in this book - including penis enlargement, drugs and STDs - were guided by the questions that Dr. Goldstone's patients asked him during his 15 years as a physician in New York City. The book is interspersed with stories from his practice, which reveal the intense fears, misunderstandings and, all too often, shame that gay men have about these issues. This book gives us gay men the answers we need to keep our sex hot and our bodies healthy.

Yes this book makes us confront our own rationilaztions and justifactions for not engaging in safe sex, or engaging in promiscious sex with strangers. The facts are facts, regardless of what you want to believe, and Dr. Goldstone lays all the cards on the table and lets y ou make the decisions from there. He is a gay doctor, so these same issues which he talks about are physical conditions that he himself has to avoid inh is own personal life. I bought this book for my own edification and plan on donating it to my Universitiy's GLBT student services library so others can have insight into the heatlth risks associated with gay sex. The book made me take my own sexual practices into perspective, both past and future, and allowed me to make more intellgient decisions on how to proceed. He make sit very clear that HIV/AIDS is not the only STD out there that can have a very damaging effect, and he also discusses many other health issues and illnesses that can affect men. He also discusses sex, and how to use lubricants and condoms and how to position yourself for penetration, so this is a great device for the inexperienced young men trying their sexuality out for the first time. Dr. Goldstone is 100% pro gay, he is gay himself, but that does not mean we can deny the truth of our biological bodies and the physical conditions that can come upon them. Read this book with a grain of salt, and use it to better protect yourself, thats what it's intention is for. He also adds vignettes to the chapters previous to you reading them to give you a perspective of where he is coming from, and also has a great sense of humor, although it is a bit corny. I wish more MDs would realize we need some humor in order to rest our minds during a physical examination. He also makes it very clear that you should be completely upfront with your physician about being gay and the sexual acts you perform, otherwise most straight physicians in particular could easily over look your symptoms as being something else entirely.

As a run-of-the-mill college educated individual without a high level of medical knowledge, I found this book to be at best, scary. I am certain that the author is not being the least bit homophobic, and I can't imagine any reason for him to be unreasonably alarmist about the dangers of gay sex or sex in general. But as a previous reviewer noted, the book's context does seem to run to the negative, and I wouldn't be too surprised if a lot of readers are completely turned off to gay sex by this book. Perhaps a book shouldn't be judged for not couching its topics gently, but I think a better effort could have made to make this book less frightening. Apparently here is the blunt, in-your-face, truth, and it's not pretty.