The Gay Kama Sutra

by Colin Spencer

Adapts the precepts of the original Kama Sutra to celebrate the spiritual and sexual expressions of male homosexual love

Genres: LGBT, Nonfiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1996

About the author

Author biography:

Colin Spencer was born in London in 1933 and attended Brighton Grammar School and Brighton Art College. From an early age, he was interested in both art and writing and had his first stories published in The London Magazine and Encounter when he was 22.

Spencer’s first novel, An Absurd Affair, was published in 1961, but it was with his second, Anarchists in Love (1963), the first in the four-volume Generation sequence, that he began to garner widespread critical acclaim. Seven more novels followed between 1966 and 1978, including Poppy, Mandragora and the New Sex (1966), Asylum (1966), and Panic (1971), books that one critic has said ‘revel in the eccentric, the bizarre, and the grotesque’.

A man of many talents, Spencer is also a prolific author of non-fiction books, including gay-interest titles like Homosexuality: A History (1995) and The Gay Kama Sutra (1997) and acclaimed works on food and cooking which led Germaine Greer to call him ‘the greatest living food writer’.

More recently, Spencer has devoted himself to painting and to writing a trilogy of autobiographical works, the first of which, the memoir Backing into Light: My Father’s Son, was published by Quartet in 2013. He lives in East Sussex.

Reviews

[Alan Culler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Get it gay boys.

[J.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I will admit ~ I wanted more pictures. When one thinks of the Kama Sutra, one thinks of a variety of different positions in which to make love. This book briefly describes sixteen positions, several of which are just variations on earlier positions. In that section of the text, there are only a handful of drawings, which makes it hard to visualize some of the more complicated positions.

The remainder of the book speaks to homosexual life in broad, romantic terms. I found the author's style a little cheesy at times, and wondered how much of it was due to his mimicking the original Kama Sutra prose and how much came from his own grandiose ideals of gay love.

This book covers every aspect of gay love, from safe sex to love-making positions, from coming out to sexual games, from recognizing someone in love to acquiring a lover. Some mention is made of homosexuality throughout history, which was interesting to read, but overall the focus was on contemporary gay men in what I can only describe as an idealized setting.

I could see this book being very helpful to a young man or teenager dealing with his own budding sexuality. But for adult gay men, unless they are very closeted or only now discovering their homosexuality, this book is probably not the sexual guide they're looking for to spice up their relationship.

[Phoenix (Edward) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very informative read. The illustrations in the book are VERY detailed and beautiful. I must admit, that I have learned some new techniques from reading this gem.
I also loved how the author respected the essence of two men making love and showcased the intensity in the art of the Gay Karma Sutra. Amazing book!!!

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much more than one would expect from the title.

[TIMOTHY Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting, and apparently i IS flexible! LOLOLOLOL

[BookLuva28 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Couldn't believe I stumbled upon it at the nearby mall Waldenbooks.