Friction 2: Best Gay Erotic Fiction

Rating:
Summary: "Best?" I don't think so...
Review: Not a bad collection, but it's the concept of "Best Gay Erotic Ficiton" that I object to. Does the editor really expect us to believe that fully a quarter of the best gay erotica published last year appeared in just two magazines (InTouch and Indulge) owned by one publisher? Or that one writer (Bob Vickery, who is good) is responsible for a sixth of the best porn? Missing are any of the other topflight queer authors found in, say, Best Gay Erotica or Best American Erotica, and the mass-market magazine source of these stories makes for a certain uniformity of style and narrative approach. A lot of the stories are fun, few are revelations, and if the publisher had subtitled it "Good Stuff from Some of the Stroke Magazines" it would have been more accurate.

Rating:
Summary: Something for Everyone
Review: This book has a wide variety of stories, ranging from musclebound hunks to pretty boys. A lot of the stories are really good, especially RJ March and Bob Vickery's stories. There are several from each of these guys, and that's a good thing.

Rating:
Summary: The Best of the Best
Review: This is a fantastic book that lives up to its promise as the best gay men's writing. In particular, stories by T. Hitman who has been regularly featured in most of the big gay 'zines and R. J. March, Bob Vickery, and Grant Foster round out a provocative collection of first-rate writing. Highly recommended.