The First Three High Risk Stories
One Porn Guy and Two Hateful Creeps
High Risk Books was a series of books kicked off by the first High Risk anthologies, published in 1989. Amy Scholder and Ira Silverberg mostly published writers that they knew and worked with, often writers and performance artists who were in the same poetry collectives. According to the back cover, the book delves into the forbidden zones of sex and transgressive imagination.
The authors promise tenderness and brutality, wit and sensuality as the writers explore the “so-called dark side of life beckoning in all its manifestations - sadomasochism, prostitution, incest, drug use, bondage, transsexuality.” There’s also chatter about the shadow regions of the heart and subversive desires. It’s a good introduction, but mostly the book was written in the shadow of the Reagan era. AIDS is going to loom large and so is leftist politics.
The book starts with an essay by John Preston, a man who wrote gay erotica throughout his life and would die from AIDS in the early 90s. He’s honest about how life worked for gay men from the 1950s until the 1990s. He lost his virginity to a man he met at the bus stop, after he learned that older guys went to these places looking for teenage boys.
"How Dare You Even Think These Things?" by John Preston (High Risk)
In many ways, John Preston's literary career began when his grandmother found an early story that wasn't pornographic, but definitely horny and confronted him. Before tearing it up. She screamed “How dare you even think these things?” By the 1970s, John Preston was writing gay BDSM classics like
The second entry is by a vile antisemitic bitch named Mary Gaitskill. I had subscribed to Gaitskill’s substack when I first read the book because “oh cool, someone in this book is not only alive but also still writing.” Only her substack is full of blood libel and Hamas propaganda. Her story is even more disgusting as it’s about a shitty 12-year old girl who rapes her friend with a toothbrush. For more fun, check out the comments of this one where Mary’s sister charges in to claim that she’s NOT antisemitic, no she’s not, because she married a Jew (Jewish-by-injection) and how dare I say that she is. This lady then asks if I’m a…wait for it…ZIONIST??? So it’s the “we love Jews as long as they are cool with October 7 and aren’t those evil Zionist” argument.
But if you don’t want to read the comments (wise move), Mary Gaitskill is vile enough to make for an entertaining essay.
"Action, Illinois" by Mary Gaitskill (High Risk)
On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists raped and murdered hundreds of civilians including Jews, Arabs, tourists and workers. They kidnapped teenagers. They kidnapped children. Leftists were all over Bluesky and social media celebrating. Apparently shooting a family or raping a teenager is fine as long as you can frame it as “decolonization” or “the resist…
Finally, there’s Gary Indiana. The man named himself after a Music Man song. That’s delightful. He was also a tiny little shit who fought with everyone and wrote essays for Vice titled “Fuck Israel” in which he repeated the standard Jewish Bloodsuckers take your Money lines. Gary was an asshole. When even the obituary writers can’t refrain from calling you out, you really fucked up as a human.
"Dreams Involving Water" by Gary Indiana (High Risk)
Last October, Gary Indiana died of lung cancer. Judging by his obituaries, most of his friends (including Ira Silverberg, the editor of High Risk) were cheering for cancer. Gary Indiana was a bitter angry little man who alienated everyone and held grudges. Ira Silverberg's obituary says more about Ira Silverberg and High Risk books than the dead guy. Ga…
So this has been a strange week. I did some work, but I could get some more, so if you like me, please consider getting a paid subscription or donating to my gofundme.
John Preston edited Flesh and the Word, which looks interesting.
Finally, I got some books to sell. Since Pesach is coming up, buy a copy of She Nailed a Stake Through His Head.