Skin & Ink: Gay Erotic Fiction [Paperback]

Jim Gladstone (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2005

Jameson Currier, Michael Jensen, Trebor Healey, Greg Wharton, M. Christian, Simon Sheppard and Kelly McQuain are but a handful of the contributors to this unusual and stimulating collection of erotic stories celebrating the edgier side of gay sex.

Jim Gladstone is the author of Gladstone’s Games to Go and The Big Book of Misunderstanding. He lives in Philadelphia.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jim Gladstone is the author of Gladstone's Games to Go and The Big Book of Misunderstanding. He lives in Philadelphia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Alyson Books (April 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555838456
• ISBN-13: 978-1555838454
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,548,233 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Giving Many the Needle, November 11, 2006

By 

Lew Troop "Lew" (Kansas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Skin & Ink: Gay Erotic Fiction (Paperback)

,With something over thirty percent of American Males now bearing a tattoo, there had to be some good stories about getting them or why they're on one but not another. Jim Gladstone has dug through the memoirs of many and collected them in this highly entertaining and erotic collection. Make no mistake, this is a book that has homoerotic sex as its secondary theme but only as it relates to a tattoo or the getting of one. That said, not much time is wasted bouncing from bed to bed and far more attention is paid to the men and their motives. Various motives that range across a spectrum from sophisticated wit (perhaps the best line in the book is "I always thought Avocado was God's failure to grow soap on a tree") to the tragedy brought on by a gay bashing.

Too, as broad a spectrum as this covers it carries with it a range of places, people and things. And that's a diverting thing. These short stories are plot and event driven as opposed to just a surrounding for Sex. They are well written by authors who have considered not only the tattoo itself, but the motivations-and a different lot they are-for being tattooed. From a group of punks with snakes on their heads to a kid trying to grow up and having a word so filthy it's never named put on his back, to the guy who just likes tattoos and is happy to explain his desire to have them.

What there aren't are the proverbial, "well, a bunch of us was drunk and I got one" sort of tale. Ditto the service tattoos whose presence is self-expanatory.

This is an entertaining ride that the color-free might want to peek into. Or if you've considered getting one, or already have one, chances are you'll find someone in this book to whom you can relate.

It's posssibly small minded to mention this, but the cover art, as compared to much homoerotic fiction, is bland to the point of wondering why you'd put it on a coffee table.

Thank You, Mr. Gladstone for your time and perspicacity in rounding up the best and putting ink on the page. I'd write more but I have a date with a local ink slinger.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Making a mark, August 21, 2005

By 

Tim Brough "author and music buff" (Springfield, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Skin & Ink: Gay Erotic Fiction (Paperback)

"Skin and Ink" is a somewhat entertaining collection built on the premise that every story must have a tattoo as a central focus. After that, anything goes. While it certainly makes an interesting idea, it also makes the stories disparate reads. The ones that stay more focused on relationships and family ("Winter Count" and "Erasing Sonny") fare the best. Also a kick is the fantastical "The Angelick Book."

Something else that is noteworthy about "Skin and Ink" is that the locales for more than a few of the pieces veer off the usual gay Mecca to other places. Philadelphia and Arkansas (in another of this book's highlights, the cheater's downfall of "Alibis") make for two of the diverse settings for some of the key tales. It makes for a pleasant change from the typical San Francisco or New York settings that are standard issue for most gay writing.