Leather Blues

by Jack Fritscher

Leather The Adventures of Denny Sargent, a Novel 91 pages Gay Sunshine Pr; illustrated edition edition (November 1984) English 0917342496

Genres: M M Romance, Gay, LGBT, Fiction, BDSM

91 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1984

Reviews

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

The increasingly intense sex scenes are definitely hot, but I also found myself surprisingly invested in the sexual coming-of-age framing narrative too?

"'S and M can also mean,' Chuck said,' Sensuality and Mutuality. It's not always straight torture. There's nothing better than two guys together in a bunk. Sex is celebration.'"

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hot and hugely intense insight into leather fantasy and the construction of gay masculinity. Despite the potential to be a one-note short exploration of leather and SM, Leather Blues is also a sweet, tender, and heartfelt coming of age story.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although interesting for what it was, I nevertheless had a hard time getting into it. A lot of the slang wasn't explained and left me floundering.

[Todd Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heads-up: minor spoilers

Jack Fritscher’s Leather Blues moves quickly. A warning: the beginning scene depicts the eighteen year old main character, Denny, enjoying watching his cousin masturbating. Denny goes on to explore his sexuality by playing with/having sex with men during his breaks from working at a gas station, and he discovers leather when he receives a leather jacket for a gift.
Denny grows distant from family as his father becomes violent, beating he and his mom. Denny finds a way out, meeting the motorcyclist BDSM-er, Chuck, who’s visiting the next-door neighbor. On motorbikes, Denny and Chuck roar through town and camp at a farmhouse in the country where they hold a wild, very hard BDSM edge play scene with many leathermen. A spoiler: there is a hanging acted out in this part and although no people of color are in the scene, I could still see the scene being triggering/activating. Also, I don’t think the book portrays women well. Denny’s mom is a very stereotypical innocent housewife and other women are just objects for straight men.
With that said, in its descriptions of sex scenes, Leather Blues is vivid and focuses on the concrete details; a reader can see, touch, hear, taste, and smell what’s going on. Fritsher does what’s taught in so many creative writing classes: he shows; he doesn’t tell.
Despite the book’s outdated-ness in how it treats people other than white men, people of color aren’t represented at all, I think it’s a read that pays off as an erotic novel, as a book that encourages folks to explore BDSM/leather culture, and as an example of good writing at the descriptive level. 7/10

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a minor novella about the coming of age of Denny, an 18 year old incipient leather man. Some of the risky sex detailed in this book was rather upsetting. I would stick to Fritscher's magnum opus, "Some Dance to Remember", a much longer and better book with well developed characters.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant, passionate and no holds barred. An iconic and illuminating part of pre Stonewall history. Required reading for older readers who want to know their lgbtiq history. Some of the later scenes are a bit intense but that’s the point, to push boundaries.

Jack really was an icon. Vale

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, brisk, and sexy, this was one of my first 'literary erotica' books read decades ago.

[Marios Alexandrou · Rating 3 out of 5]

A vintage find from the 80s.

[Benny · Rating 5 out of 5]

slow build up but amazing climax