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My Life as a Pornographer & Other Indecent Acts
From Library Journal:
Writer, editor, health educator, and author of the S/M cult classic Mr. Benson, Preston here collects 30 years' worth of essays and lectures on a wide variety of topics with one common theme: sex. The work offered here runs the gamut from the essential and enlightening to the downright silly, with "A Modest Proposal for the Support of the Pornographic Arts" definitely falling into the later category. Preston's sex-positive stand on safer-sex education as the only truly effective AIDS-prevention strategy will certainly not win him any conservative converts, but AIDS activists will be shouting their assent. As the title suggests, Preston celebrates a time when homosexuality was defined in more purely sexual terms, which gives some of the work an oddly nostalgic quality. Despite some contradictions that weaken a few of the more conceptual arguments, Preston's book is a bridge from the sexually liberated 1970s to the more cautious 1990s, and Preston has walked much of that way as a standard-bearer to the cause for equal rights. Recommended for special collections and larger libraries where the topic will be of interest.
- Jeffery Ingram, Newport P.L., Ore.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Writer, editor, health educator, and author of the S/M cult classic Mr. Benson, Preston here collects 30 years' worth of essays and lectures on a wide variety of topics with one common theme: sex. The work offered here runs the gamut from the essential and enlightening to the downright silly, with "A Modest Proposal for the Support of the Pornographic Arts" definitely falling into the later category. Preston's sex-positive stand on safer-sex education as the only truly effective AIDS-prevention strategy will certainly not win him any conservative converts, but AIDS activists will be shouting their assent. As the title suggests, Preston celebrates a time when homosexuality was defined in more purely sexual terms, which gives some of the work an oddly nostalgic quality. Despite some contradictions that weaken a few of the more conceptual arguments, Preston's book is a bridge from the sexually liberated 1970s to the more cautious 1990s, and Preston has walked much of that way as a standard-bearer to the cause for equal rights. Recommended for special collections and larger libraries where the topic will be of interest.
- Jeffery Ingram, Newport P.L., Ore.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
266 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
About the author
John Preston
51 books79 followersJohn Preston wrote and edited gay erotica, fiction, and nonfiction.
He grew up in Medfield, Massachusetts, later living in a number of major American cities before settling in Portland, Maine in 1979. A writer of fiction and nonfiction, dealing mostly with issues in gay life, he was a pioneer in the early gay rights movement in Minneapolis. He helped found one of the earliest gay community centers in the United States, edited two newsletters devoted to sexual health, and served as editor of The Advocate in 1975.
He was the author or editor of nearly fifty books, including such erotic landmarks as Mr. Benson and I Once Had a Master and Other Tales of Erotic Love. Other works include Franny, the Queen of Provincetown (first a novel, then adapted for stage), The Big Gay Book: A Man's Survival Guide for the Nineties, Personal Dispatches: Writers Confront AIDS, and Hometowns: Gay Men Write About Where They Belong.
Preston's writing (which he described as pornography) was part of a movement in the 1970s and 1980s toward higher literary quality in gay erotic fiction. Preston was an outspoken advocate of the artistic and social worth of erotic writings, delivering a lecture at Harvard University entitled My Life as a Pornographer. The lecture was later published in an essay collection with the same name. The collection includes Preston's thoughts about the gay leather community, to which he belonged. His writings caused controversy when he was one of several gay and lesbian authors to have their books confiscated at the border by Canada Customs. Testimony regarding the literary merit of his novel I Once Had a Master helped a Vancouver LGBT bookstore, Little Sister's Book and Art Emporium, to partially win a case against Canada Customs in the Canadian Supreme Court in 2000. Preston also brought gay erotic fiction to mainstream readers by editing the Flesh and the Word anthologies for a major press.
Preston served as a journalist and essayist throughout his life. He wrote news articles for Drummer and other gay magazines, produced a syndicated column on gay life in Maine, and penned a column for Lambda Book Report called "Preston on Publishing." His nonfiction anthologies, which collected essays by himself and others on everyday aspects of gay and lesbian life, won him the Lambda Literary Award and the American Library Association's Stonewall Book Award. He was especially noted for his writings on New England.
Although primarily known as a gay fiction writer, Preston was also hired by a local newspaper, The Portland Chronicle, to write news articles and features about his adopted hometown of Portland. He wrote a long feature about the local monopoly newspaper, the Portland Press Herald, as well as many food articles movie reviews and other writing.
In addition, Preston wrote men's adventure novels under the pseudonyms of Mike McCray, Preston MacAdam, and Jack Hilt (pen names that he shared with other authors). Taking what he had learned from authoring those books, he wrote the "Alex Kane" adventure novels about gay characters. These books, which included "Sweet Dreams," "Golden Years," and "Deadly Lies," combined action-story plots with an exploration of issues such as the problems facing gay youth.
Preston was among the first writers to popularize the genre of safe sex stories, editing a safe sex anthology entitled Hot Living in 1985. He helped to found the AIDS Project of Southern Maine. In the late 1980s, he discovered that he himself was HIV positive.
Some of his last essays, found in his nonfiction anthologies and in his posthumous collection Winter's Light, describe his struggle to come emotionally to terms with a disease that had already killed many of his friends and fellow writers.
He died of AIDS complications on April 28, 1994, aged 48, at his home in Portland. His papers are held in the Preston Archive at Brown University.
Librarian Note: There is more th
He grew up in Medfield, Massachusetts, later living in a number of major American cities before settling in Portland, Maine in 1979. A writer of fiction and nonfiction, dealing mostly with issues in gay life, he was a pioneer in the early gay rights movement in Minneapolis. He helped found one of the earliest gay community centers in the United States, edited two newsletters devoted to sexual health, and served as editor of The Advocate in 1975.
He was the author or editor of nearly fifty books, including such erotic landmarks as Mr. Benson and I Once Had a Master and Other Tales of Erotic Love. Other works include Franny, the Queen of Provincetown (first a novel, then adapted for stage), The Big Gay Book: A Man's Survival Guide for the Nineties, Personal Dispatches: Writers Confront AIDS, and Hometowns: Gay Men Write About Where They Belong.
Preston's writing (which he described as pornography) was part of a movement in the 1970s and 1980s toward higher literary quality in gay erotic fiction. Preston was an outspoken advocate of the artistic and social worth of erotic writings, delivering a lecture at Harvard University entitled My Life as a Pornographer. The lecture was later published in an essay collection with the same name. The collection includes Preston's thoughts about the gay leather community, to which he belonged. His writings caused controversy when he was one of several gay and lesbian authors to have their books confiscated at the border by Canada Customs. Testimony regarding the literary merit of his novel I Once Had a Master helped a Vancouver LGBT bookstore, Little Sister's Book and Art Emporium, to partially win a case against Canada Customs in the Canadian Supreme Court in 2000. Preston also brought gay erotic fiction to mainstream readers by editing the Flesh and the Word anthologies for a major press.
Preston served as a journalist and essayist throughout his life. He wrote news articles for Drummer and other gay magazines, produced a syndicated column on gay life in Maine, and penned a column for Lambda Book Report called "Preston on Publishing." His nonfiction anthologies, which collected essays by himself and others on everyday aspects of gay and lesbian life, won him the Lambda Literary Award and the American Library Association's Stonewall Book Award. He was especially noted for his writings on New England.
Although primarily known as a gay fiction writer, Preston was also hired by a local newspaper, The Portland Chronicle, to write news articles and features about his adopted hometown of Portland. He wrote a long feature about the local monopoly newspaper, the Portland Press Herald, as well as many food articles movie reviews and other writing.
In addition, Preston wrote men's adventure novels under the pseudonyms of Mike McCray, Preston MacAdam, and Jack Hilt (pen names that he shared with other authors). Taking what he had learned from authoring those books, he wrote the "Alex Kane" adventure novels about gay characters. These books, which included "Sweet Dreams," "Golden Years," and "Deadly Lies," combined action-story plots with an exploration of issues such as the problems facing gay youth.
Preston was among the first writers to popularize the genre of safe sex stories, editing a safe sex anthology entitled Hot Living in 1985. He helped to found the AIDS Project of Southern Maine. In the late 1980s, he discovered that he himself was HIV positive.
Some of his last essays, found in his nonfiction anthologies and in his posthumous collection Winter's Light, describe his struggle to come emotionally to terms with a disease that had already killed many of his friends and fellow writers.
He died of AIDS complications on April 28, 1994, aged 48, at his home in Portland. His papers are held in the Preston Archive at Brown University.
Librarian Note: There is more th
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 11, 2020
Don't bother reading Preston's memoir if you're looking for salacious content. Nothing here will trigger an erection. It's actually a series of essays explaining Preston's seemingly bipolar literary career, which has alternated between erotica for pulps, and "serious" gay novels. The porn, we gather, has been written both for money and for fun, and Preston offers no apology for churning it out with special focus on the S & M scene.
His first-person essays are more than critiques of publishers. They offer fascinating glimpses into gay male culture, including its politics and marketing, and how they have changed over the decades. They shed light on how gay life has busted out of the closet and achieved outsized influence in fashion, entertainment and mainstreaming of soft porn.
Some of the material is dated -- it was written while the AIDS crisis was still worsening (eventually killing Preston) and before Internet porn largely displaced printed erotica, so I limited the book to four stars. But it is still a worthwhile springboard for understanding the milieu that preceded marriage equality, transgender awareness and post-gay assimilation.
I especially liked the opening chapter, Preston's lecture at Harvard, that dared to assert pornography merits attention and appreciation by high culture. Another standout essay is his frank, politically incorrect look at the tensions between gay men and militant feminists, whom he sees as emasculating. And worthwhile just for fun is his brief history of designer underwear, an industry that was launched after Jockey discovered in the early '70s that women are the big buyers of male underwear.
His first-person essays are more than critiques of publishers. They offer fascinating glimpses into gay male culture, including its politics and marketing, and how they have changed over the decades. They shed light on how gay life has busted out of the closet and achieved outsized influence in fashion, entertainment and mainstreaming of soft porn.
Some of the material is dated -- it was written while the AIDS crisis was still worsening (eventually killing Preston) and before Internet porn largely displaced printed erotica, so I limited the book to four stars. But it is still a worthwhile springboard for understanding the milieu that preceded marriage equality, transgender awareness and post-gay assimilation.
I especially liked the opening chapter, Preston's lecture at Harvard, that dared to assert pornography merits attention and appreciation by high culture. Another standout essay is his frank, politically incorrect look at the tensions between gay men and militant feminists, whom he sees as emasculating. And worthwhile just for fun is his brief history of designer underwear, an industry that was launched after Jockey discovered in the early '70s that women are the big buyers of male underwear.
August 20, 2013
The title of this book is deceptive. By 'pornographer', the author means someone who writes (gay male)erotica novels/short stories - not quite as interesting as a film maker or even a porno mag editor. The first few pieces in this book are just plain dull. It does get a bit interesting, as it goes. I found myself being somewhat annoyed with his piece on 'anti-gay male feminism. He may have had some valid points but he failed to talk about the flipside of the story - the existence of misogyny amongst some gay male societies.
All in all, unless you are a fan of this writer's erotic work, this book is pretty dull.
All in all, unless you are a fan of this writer's erotic work, this book is pretty dull.
November 7, 2010
FYI, this book is not pornographic. It's a collection of autobiographical essays that deal with Preston's life. He mixes stories about writing porn with his sexual experiences with stories about interacting with people who read his smut. This is an interesting and enjoyable book that would be of interest to people who haven't read his smut.
April 12, 2016
Although many of the essays in this book are pretty dated, this collection is anthropologically interesting. There's a blurb on the cover that states "Intelligent, witty, informed, and passionate," and Preston was definitely all of those things in his day. It's a real shame he passed away not so long after this was published.
July 11, 2020
A really impressive, informative and fascinating book documenting some gay sm lifestyle by describing his own activities.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 20, 2007
I got this book at my local friends of the public library book sale. Great score. I enjoyed reading it a lot, even though I don't read a lot of gay male porn.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews