Customer Reviews

Love, Sal

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Funny how some experiences and drives transcend gender, age and sexual orientation. I laughed, I cried, it became a part of me? Sure, but it also made me think, and reexamine issues I had thought resolved. I suppose one of the points made by the book is that the issues which are truly important are never truly resolved, and always bear further examination. I'm very glad to have come upon this book. My thanks go out to those who convinced the author to compile his cross-country musings into a piece for all to read.

I'm Jett Blakk, director of such gay adult fare as LEATHER VIRGIN, the LEATHER INTRUSION series and DAMNATION: HELL IN LEATHER, and I would like to add my five cents here.

Let me assure you that "Love, Sal" is right on target in its depiction of the San Francisco leather scene, and Mr. Iacopelli's adventures make for some of the hottest, most intense and funniest moments I've read in some time. From examples of loving S&M to untrustworthy trust issues to the joys of leather to the complex, emotional conflicting mental states of a desire to be controlled and a fear of giving up control, this book runs the gamut of things you desire and things that repulse you...and keeps you laughing the entire time.

It will turn you on, it will make you wince, it will open your eyes and it will open your mouth...with laughter. Mostly with laughter.

From the first moment I started to read Love, Sal, I had a very difficult time putting it down. In fact, I was so mesmerized I almost missed my "El" stop on my way home from work. Sal, you made me laugh. You made me cry. You gave me hard-ons. And, at times, I thought I was reading MY own letter to a friend! Sometimes, all of these feelings within two pages!

I didn't realize that you and I (and all gay men?) have so much in common. You touched on many emotions and feelings that I, too, have had in dealing with life, sex, drugs, and relationships. I envy you for having the balls to put it all down for all to read. Thanks for sharing your journey.

Love, Jim

While some may shutter at the thought of reading about a gay man's leather escapades, I found them just to be the backdrop to a look into the thoughts, feelings, desires and fears of an individual in his 30's. We've all been there - the way we feel about family, the trials and tribulations of moving to a new city, how we deal with romantic relationships, our joy and amazement at what small children add to our lives, and the desire to have all the answers. I laughed, I cried and even squirmished at bit. A great read!

As a straight woman and new at-home mother, my world is as far removed from the life of one Sal Iacopelli in 3 years of San Francisco living. Yet, I found myself positively gripped from page one. This book is an unequivocal, hysterical, touching, remarkable, harrowing, intense, raunchy, exhilirating, sweet sweet trip that should be required reading for ANYONE with human running through their veins. One quarter through the book,you KNOW Sal. By the middle of the book, you're cheering for him like nobody's business. Three quarters through the book you love Sal and by the end of the book you are completely on his side even through ever-[grumpy] scenes like when he's barely able to take his eyes off the tv while his ex-lover chokes on a piece of food.

Sal's wit, riotous humor, and delicious power for description make him come alive for the reader and convert the book into potato chips you just can't stop eating. Some of my personal favorites: "Everybody surfin', Paxil USA" "Disaster Coordinator" "You don't know my pain" "Jesus Crucified Christ" "yeesh!" "Oh, those long, piano-strengthened fingers" "...a volatile collection of 25 queers and dykes..." "...sort of...Deliverance looking..."

And on and on it goes like that. Buy it for yourself, for a friend, you/they will devour it in one very gratified sitting.

Sal is not only a great story teller, but a genius at observing and articulating the behaviors and idiosincracies of people in general. Equally enticing is his ability to overlap pleasure and pain, humor and distress.

I particularly like the semi-autobiographical format of the book that chronicles a significant portionn of his life and that eloquently portrays experiences filtered only by his openess to them. There's an honest searching, a vulnerability bordering on narcissism, but not quite. There's also an introspection that leaves him virtually "naked" to the eyes of the reader, making him the more endearing a hero of this modern tragic-comdey.

In essence, I loved this book for its refreshing reliance on genuine writing and transparent creativity.

Okay, I did his web site... but one reason it was such fun to do was the nature of the material in "Love Sal". Here Sal provides a look at the generally misunderstood, often frustrating but always erotic life of those into the kinky side of life.

Not everyone will experience the kinds of things Sal writes about, especially if you've never explored the leather lifestyle in that fantasyland called San Francisco. But anyone who has been active in the leather community will chuckle at the recounts of domination and submission gone awry and smile at the simple romance of it all. Think you missed out on leather in the 70's? Sal shows us that its still alive and well in "The City" and still as fun and annoying as it always has been.

I recommend Love Sal, especially for those who are a bit disgruntled about their involvement in the community today. It will cause you to laugh and cry at the familiararity of it all and will help you to see that, for all it's annoyances, being into kink is who we are...and life wouldn't be the same without the experience of it!

This is one of the funniest, most hysterical books I've read in the past few years! Buy it or...Daddy spank!

I found this book so mesmerizing. From the moment I picked up "Love, Sal" I was hooked. Sal writes in such an honest way that you are immediately captured and taken into his world. And what a world he lived for those 3 years in San Francisco. Through his letters to his friend Tim we are guided through raunchy S/M clubs, with names like "Suck Hole", shown the pain and passion of his Master/slave boy relationship with DaddyPete. We slip through bathroom stalls where urine doesn't always end up in the urinal and then we are wisked away to a tender moment between Sal and a one year old child. He takes us with him when his HIV status changes to AIDS, but then makes us laugh with a dyke/dildo fantasy. Sal sweeps you to parties with Bear daddies, to work with dykes and to bed with quite a variety of men. However, through all his relationships and unbelievably crazy encounters, there is humor and honesty, reflection and control. Sal lets us hear his thoughts, understand his fears and live his fantasies. Join the fun and read "Love, Sal". It's quite an adventure.

I worked with Sal for a short time prior to his departure from San Francisco. I sure miss his company but after reading "Love, Sal" it's like he's back in town! His writing is from the heart as he describes his many adventures throughout San Francisco with his encounters and the people that touched his life such as Sher, Irl, and Max! If you like to read about sexual adventures then get this book! Sal knows how to bring it home in reality.

Congratulations Sal!!