Straight?: True Stories of Unlikely Sexual Encounters Between Men [Paperback]

Jack Hart (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1998

Sexy true stories of gay erotic encounters with fraternity members.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Beneath its jovial, insouciant, sexy attitude, Jack Hart's Straight, a collection of frisky first-person tales in which straight-identified men end up having sex with other men, embodies a curious political and cultural collision. One of the mandates of the gay liberation movement, which emerged after the Stonewall riots of June, 1969, was that every gay person had the responsibility to "come out" and be openly gay. Yet postmodern theory informs us that the very categories of "gay" and "straight" may be, well, easily constructed identities that conceal far more complicated realities. On the surface, Straight conforms to the erotic "letters" genre pioneered by magazines like First Hand and brought into book form by Hart's own My First Time and My Biggest O, but reading through the book you are struck, again and again, by the naturalness and innocence of the situations. While an initial glance at the anthology may remind you of the old joke, "Q: What is the difference between a gay man and a straight man? A: A six-pack," few of the stories involve deception to get the "heterosexual" participants interested in sexual activity. For the most part, sex play here is eagerly sought after and thoroughly enjoyed. Straight delivers on its softcore fantasy promise, but the underlying theme--that the words we use to classify ourselves are, at best, inexact and often misleading--is quite serious. --Michael Bronski

About the Author

Jack Hart's first book was the best-selling Gay Sex: A Manual for Men Who Love Men. Since then he has edited several erotica series, including My First Time, Straight, and Twink. He most recently edited the pirate erotica collection Treasure Trail.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Alyson Books; 1st edition (August 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555834752
• ISBN-13: 978-1555834753
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #576,225 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Straight? Has It's Moments, But Seems A Little Rehashed..., September 14, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Straight?: True Stories of Unlikely Sexual Encounters Between Men (Paperback)

I've always been keenly interested in reading about a man's first time, particularly a "straight" man's first time with another man. In Straight?, Hart has compiled a nice collection of stories that address just that topic. The tales range from the romantic and sweet to the extremely erotic. The only misgiving I have with the book comes from an admission that Hart makes in the introduction. It seems that most (if not all) the stories were originally printed in MEN Magazine. Now, nothing against the mag, but I often question the truth behind most of the stories featured in that mag, submitted by readers or not. The stories would have had more of a real touch to them if at least some came about from interviewing the real men that the stories came from. It's still a page turner, and you'll probably read it from cover to cover in only two sittings, and, dispite being a little "rehashed," it's good, clean, dirty, fun.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The mind games some guys play!, January 28, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Straight?: True Stories of Unlikely Sexual Encounters Between Men (Paperback)

"Straight?" serves up some 50 true accounts of sexually straight-identified men who explore their "curiosity" about same-sex encounters and, in the process, challenges the validity of labels like "straight" and "gay." In most of these true narratives, the common thread is less the sexual labels we and others apply to us individually and more man's basic need (carnal or otherwise) for the touch of someone of the same gender. As someone myself identified as "straight" with some sexual experiences with other "straight" men, the turn-on is less sexual and more the feeling of simply being wanted. The stories in this compilation do more than offer some sizzling hot descriptions of man-to-man sex. They also ask the fundamental question if labels ("straight," "gay," "bi") are even relevant, why it seems (on both a private and societal level) that anything related to homosexuality prompts serious questions of one's sexual preferences and why anything related to same-gender interaction has anything to do with sex at all. In the end, does it really matter? For anyone not interested in such a debate, however, and is looking for nothing more than steamy literature, this book has just about anything that caters to any taste.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From the Publisher, January 5, 2006

By 

Earl R. Sutton "earlsutton" (Detroit, MI, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Straight?: True Stories of Unlikely Sexual Encounters Between Men (Paperback)

"Jack Hart, best known for his collections of real-life sexual adventures between men My First Time, My Biggest O, and Heat, has compiled a new anthology in which gay men describe in their own words the couplings they've had with men who did not seem on first appearance to be open to having gay sex. Among the surprising seductions detailed in this collection: A man initiates into gay sex his small town's biggest womanizer; a man drafted to entertain the groom-to-be during a bridal shower discovers just how open the upcoming marriage will be; a reporter interviewing a straight TV star (no names!) comes back with a titillating story; a military man tells of the one time in his career he let down his sexual guard--for the husband of his best friend; and an inexperienced college freshman finds that a straight-acting frat boy is both open-minded and openmouthed. Straight? is Jack Harts freshest collection and points out that indeed truth can be stranger--and hotter--than fiction. Review courtesy of Alyson Publications"--© zebraz