The Joy of Gay Sex, Third Edition, Dr. Charles Silverstein & Felice Picano is what I would call a condensed encyclopedia of Gay Sex. At three hundred and forty four pages, it covers one hundred and forty four topics. Upon first getting it, I thought it would be an instructional book geared towards more fulfilling gay sex. This did not turn out to be the case.

The Joy of Gay sex is geared towards a wide audience. It is for anyone that is curious about the many sides of gay sex. Whether you're someone questioning you sexuality or someone who just has a natural curiosity about being a gay male, this book can give you a good introduction. As the back cover of this book states, “The Joy of Gay Sex covers the ins and outs of gay life alphabetically from Anus to Wrestling.” It is also a valuable use of information for those struggling with coming out of the closet with specific topics on “coming out” and being “out on the job".

For those readers into more of the kinkier side of life, there is plenty of information on such topics as BDSM, water sports, uniform fetish and much more. These chapters not only inform the reader about what these things are, but also give insight into how to play in a safe and responsible manner.

The common theme in most of these chapters is safety. This does not limit itself to condom use and monogamy. Safe play topics to help the reader prevent physical and psychological injury are also important to help maintain a happy sexual existence.

This book would not be complete without covering the social and medical issues of being gay. Though limited on information, these chapters give enough information to let the reader decide if they need to research a subject further.

For the most part, I would say this book was a good read and provided me with some useful information. My biggest criticism is that the authors tried to cover way too many subjects and would have done well to write this book in volumes so that more information for each subject was covered. For those readers with questions about Gay Sex, this book is a good start in your journey to educating yourself.

This book has proven to be useful to help inform some people at work that had some basic misunderstanding of what it is to be gay. There was a guy at work that made some ignorant remarks about gays and I decided to try and educate him. I offered to let him borrow this book if he promised to not make any comments until he had finished reading it. To say the least, things have been so much more relaxed at work. He told me that from reading this book that sex is only one side of the life of a gay person. I'm very glad I have this book and very happy to have been able to use it to enlighten someone on the subject.