I enjoyed Bouden's two previous gay/erotic/graphic-novel books [one category just is not enough!], In Bed With David and Jonathan and Max and Sven, so when I found that he had a new book coming out I put it on pre-order at once. His illustrating style reminds me a lot of the "Tintin" books, but the content's a good deal racier...

For that matter, this book's even racier than In Bed with David and Jonathan, though it continues that delightful mix of eroticism, sex, friendships, love, and humor. While there are some appearances by ongoing characters from previous books (most notably Max and boyfriend Carl), most of the content of this book is either a single strip or a short-story-type series of strips, with any one item able to stand on its own. The author pokes fun at some gay stereotypes, at relationship issues that are certainly not limited to gay relationships, and at families, friends, insecurities, and egos. And the translated-from-the-French dialog has a very continental feel to it that makes the whole thing feel like eavesdropping at a Paris gay bar.

Among my favorites: the "Piggy Swine" tale, in which there was a mix-up between the dialogue of a children's story and of a very explicit porn story. [While the "piggy" dialog seems to work remarkably well in the porn context, one gathers that the reverse is not the case; the strip ends with a wide-eyed child perusing his new copy of the "Piggy Swine" comic...]

And then there's "Back in Time," in which the strip opens with an argument between boyfriends Max and Carl, and then backtracks through the steps leading up to it - revealing that things aren't at all what they appeared. [This happens to Max and Carl in another strip as well; poor Max seems to have very bad luck when it comes to being misunderstood!]

And "Foot Fetishist" raises the bar regarding mild-mannered comic strips turning into "Dating Nightmares Of All Time" strips - the weak of stomach (as well as any foot fetishists out there) should be wary of this one, as it might prove hard to forget!

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I was sending another book to KateKintail in Virginia, on loan, and noticed that she had this one on her wishlist, so I thought I'd send it along too; at media-mail rates it shouldn't cost much, if anything, more to mail both than to mail one.

Hope you enjoy it!

After reading Tom Bouden's wonderful & clever version of The Importance of Being Earnest, I put a bunch of his books on my wish lists. What a lovely surprise to get one to try out! I'm in the middle of Rainbow High at the moment but it's dreadfully tempting to set those boys aside for a little while and pick these up instead! I'm sure I'll dive in by the end of this weekend regardless. Thank you so much for lending this to me!

I actually imagined the comics in this to be longer than they were. Most were one page comics, which I probably should be used to with the webcomics I read, but still took me by surprise at first. I loved the variety of comics. They touched on so many different subjects and rang true many times. I laughed out loud quite a few times. And the Foot Fetishist one managed to catch my two biggest squicks in one *shudder* But with the exception of that one, I really did enjoy almost every single comic in this collection. I like Tom's simple yet beautiful style of drawings. And even though the translation/wording was a little off in places, I didn't mind at all.

I'm not even sure I could pick a favorite, or even a handful of favorites. I loved "Things Not to Say or Do After Having Sex", "The Towel", "Just One Day", "The Master", "Back in Time", "Lexicon of Gay Speak", and "Too Old". But... yeah. I really enjoyed pretty much all of them for one reason or another.

I'm glad I got a chance to read this! Thank you so much! I'll return it to you as soon as I dig myself out of the 2 feet of snow outside and can get to a post office.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sending this back. Thank you so much for letting me borrow it! *hugs*

And Queerville is back home again, arriving mid-snowstorm. Glad you enjoyed it!

I've enjoyed re-reading this book very much, from the sexy to the silly and back again, and it's time to let it move on. I'm sending it to BCer Jare in New Mexico to fulfill a wish, and as a "thank you" for running the Chills & Spills release challenge for so long. Enjoy!

Ooh, what fun! Thank you so much, you have made my week!!

This was a fun compilation of a web comic series. Definitely not for the prudish, some of the stories and artwork is sexually graphic. Highlights in the set for me were An Evening In The Park, The Towel, Things Not To Say After Having Sex, The Prime Of His Life, The Lexicon of Gayspeak. My main criticism is that this was initially written, I believe, in German, and the translation was not the greatest. Overall, a fun, quick guilty pleasure to read!

What better place to release this book than an adults only, clothing optional, gay camping resort? Will set this free someplace today, safe from the rain!

Enjoy the book, and let us know what you think!