TFG Thoughts: Bound for Pleasure Book Review

So after a visit to Kayo Bookstore (which I recommend while visiting San Francisco, as I reviewed here), as well as the online store Uncle Crickey’s Closet, I had quite a stock of gay pulp novels to read.  Now, it actually takes me a while to read through them.  Typically, I read late at night before going to bed to help me relax.  Well, since the point of these novels are to get you off, it’s hardly relaxing.  So I often find myself putting off reading them.  I’ve already reviewed one book, Adventures of a High School Hunk, so I thought I’d give a brief review for Bound for Pleasure.

Now, why do I review books that I’m pretty sure most of you will never get to read?  Well, first off, you can order these books pretty easily online.  But mainly, it’s because it gives me a glimpse about attitudes towards gay sex in 1980, when this particular book was published.  It gives a very interesting sense of perspective.

So obviously, I primarily bought this book for the cover and title… can’t lie about that.  But this is my main disappointment with the book… there’s actually not a whole lot of bondage or kink play in the book until the last few chapters.  Even then, while our young, blonde, virginal hero gets cuffed and ordered to answer with a “Sir” at the end, that’s about all there is of kink.  The first 75% of the book is vanilla sex, mostly orgies in gym locker rooms.  Not bad in and of itself, but not what the cover promised.

But it does go a bit into the issue of consent.  At times, when it does finally get kinky, the hero isn’t sure about what’s happening, and when he expresses his uncertainty, he’s basically ordered to comply.  Now, that can be hot in a fantasy setting.  And it can be hot when it’s between two people who have played before, know each other well, and can really intuit how much one can push the other.  But as a general rule, it sort of falls into the heading of physical and metal abuse, if you ask me.

I suppose there’s nothing wrong with it as a pure escapism fantasy.  But in my opinion, it’s certainly not meant to be a guide on how meets should go in real life.  Remember, even in a kinky scene, all parties need to consent to what is acceptable and what isn’t.  What sounds good as a fantasy often does not play out well in real life.  Just keep that in mind.