Laid Bare Essays and Observations

What’s it like turning a trick at a luxury hotel in midtown Manhattan? How are hay bales made on a small family farm? Why isn’t there a porn stars’ union? Have you ever been busted for drugs in Oklahoma? How do you make a Negroni cocktail? What is the technical name for candy corn? And how much will a tin of SPAM set you back when you’re visiting the Caribbean? And what could these things possibly have in common? They’re just some of the subjects covered by Tom Judson in this collection of essays. Fans of Gus Mattox (Tom’s stage persona while working in gay porn) were the first to encounter the surprisingly tender tone of Tom’s writing through posts on his blog, “Gus’s Soapbox.” Soon he began writing under his own name for magazines and newspapers around the globe, bringing the unique perspective and insight of someone who has seen life up close from perspectives most of us can only imagine. This volume contains the essays most frequently requested by his readers. “What a pleasure to have Tom Judson’s delightfully insightful, funny and wise book of essays at one’s fingertips. He was the Gypsy Rose Lee of Porn, but now he’s ‘Tom Judson, Author’ and just as delicious.” –Charles Busch, author of Vampire Lesbians of Sodom