Detailed, graphic sex with large swollen members. There is always something different about the men that attracts/repels the other man: a sneering lip, a short stature, a family history, a limp. In the world of M/M romances, the stage is set with one troubled, imperfect man who, early in the book, meets another troubled, imperfect man. In Harlequins, I have been told, you might get a ripped bodice and a meaningful, promising kiss, but you’re not going to get the sheets sweaty. In Erotica, you better well have cocks out and stiff by page two. There is a definite pattern and predictability in this genre of fiction that is different from Erotica and different, evidently, from Harlequins. The books I’ve been reading like a crazed love-sick teenager are all Romance. Those days are pretty much gone, aren’t they? Look at these covers! There is no way I would read one of these in public, but I also doubt that many of these even come in physical books- there’s no money in that. I once picked up a guy on the bus who was reading a physical book of Celan poetry. Of course, now that adults read Young Adult fiction on buses for the entire world to know that they read simple-minded hero tales, this might be less important.

I might blame the Kindle as it makes it easy to hide your shame. To illustrate what a dramatic turn this shift in reading for me has been, I had been known among my friends as a discriminating reader, someone with a taste in fine books and no time for pulpy rubbish. So there’s that, but the Kindle offered many new delights for less than $3 bucks - Romance! Sexy times! Erotica! Usually, these are novels of coming out and/or coming of age. I was browsing my Kindle on Friday, February 7, and thought, “ I wonder what’s popular in gay fiction.” Every now and then, I do enjoy reading something with some relevance to my sexuality.

18% Gray by Anne Tenino