The boys of hardon beach

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Running across the cover of Hardon Beach took my breath away.

Not because the cover art is exceptionally lovely (though the blonde boy's lush lashes and eyebrows would've matched my taste at the time).

If it is the gay novel that I'm remembering from my youth it was very, very romantic, even if porn. Being a foolishly romantic gay man that is why the recollection has persisted through the years.

Not having a copy of this Spade Classic I can't be sure. And even if I were to reread it there's no telling if I'd be able to.

My gay porn reading was mostly confined to a time when I worked for a mainstream bookstore in downtown Atlanta. The store was owned by the mob. They put in place a couple of porn sections. The straight one was mostly photos. Watching straight businessmen buy tales of Lesbian passion was an education.

The gay section was exclusively prose fiction. For my virginal young self learning about what my body could do with another guy's was equally and more interestingly informative.