Top 5 Worst Gay Book Covers

If you have ever looked for gay books, you are keenly aware that you really can't judge a book by its cover. These 5 examples will showcase the worst covers that embrace our gay books, some of which are written by our best authors.

5) From Boys To Men (Gay Romance) by Hector Vance, Morris, Arius De Winter, and Lyle Preston:

Okay guys, seriously? WHAT were you thinking? Why does the one guys dong have to hang out while the other has a red Kabbalah string holding it back? I see this as not only offensive to us gays but to the Jewish faith as well! What is romantic about this? Who gave the cover designer carte blanche to "scrapbook" the cover over a pink background? Are you kidding me?

4) Dreams Come True by Lisa Marie Davis:

So I totally thought I saw the worst with all that pink and the "copy / paste" psuedo porn in the book cover above, that is until I found this little gem. First off, look at that guys hair - are you kidding me? I think they tried to "feather" it first and then just layed it on the side. Second - why is there always a greasy looking Eurpoean guy? Third - this cover looks like it fell out of a "Lifetime movie" commercial - that might actually be a good thing though (the "Gays" love Lifetime). The only thing the cover is missing is the words "not without", if it did I probably would have just assumed it was from Lifetime.

3) My Only Home by Pepper Espinoza:

I really shouldn't have to go any further than HIS NAME IS PEPPER - but, Pepper, why are you outside naked and not comfortable with a robe on in your only home?!

2) Murder Most Gay by John Simpson:

I don't get it... what does the murder have to do with those beefcakes? What is being murdered by this book cover - other than my dignity as a gay man? That guy is wearing a police officer uniform - can't he help out - oh, nope.. too distracted by the whitey tighties guy. That's what happens when your gay, your wearing white underwear next to a cop with an open shirt and then bam, murder city.

1) The Christmas Throwaway by RJ Scott:

This one is really not as bad as it is disturbing. The bruting guy with the 5 oclock shadow next to who I assume is the "Christmas Throwaway", homeless kid with the matted blonde hair. The cover of this book offends me because gay youth are at high risk of literally being "thrown away" (by parents and others) and the cover adds a hot guy and fancy red and white Christmas letters to the mix to make that reality seem sexy? I don't get it. The only thing that should be thrown away regarding this book is, well, this book!

Printer-friendly version

Categories:

Books

Tags:

top 5 worst gay book covers

gay

lesbian

sexual

Replies

Woah, dude these aren't gay

These are, with one possible exception, m/m erotica written for straight women. Most of them are written by straight women. You are so far off the mark, and so cluelessly offensive, that I can't decide whether to snicker or be annoyed. These are not "Gay" books. These are examples of m/m or "slash" erotica written by straight women for straight women. The first book is ripping off the title of a genuine gay non-fiction book. The book From Boys to Men: Gay Men Write About Growing Up. Eds. Ted Gideonse and Robert Williams is about coming out; the book you link to is m/m erotica for straight women, and it's self published. The second book Dreams Come True by Lisa Marie Davis:—also a Kindle-only book—is written quite clearly by a straight woman who is known for writing m/m erotica for other straight women, from Dreamspinner, a publisher known specifically the m/m market. The third book My Only Home by Pepper Espinoza is, again by a straight woman who writes m/m erotica written for other straight women—which is what this book is. The last book is by R. J. Scott; another straight woman writing m/m erotica. I've got no problem with writers and readers writing to their particular sexual fetish, turn-on, or kink, but please, let's not identify is as gay fiction. And what on Earth leads you to conclude that these are by "some of our best authors"? Seriously dude, no; some of them defy basic principles of English grammar and syntax, never mind the practicalities of sex. For the "best authors," look to the Lambda Awards as at least a start in the right direction, but heaven's sake, what about Delany, Cherryh, de Maupin . . . Here's some of discussion of the m/m erotic genre: http://www.lambdaliterary.org/features/booklovers/06/08/straight-womenga... http://www.lambdaliterary.org/features/oped/08/19/the-fetishizing-of-que...

Thank you for all of the

Thank you for all of the information! I guess I can't rely on Amazon to provide me with my gay reads anymore. I would love to hear about all of the books you personally recommend - you seem so passionate about the subject!

Lisala, I read your post

Lisala, I read your post today about m/m erotica written by and for straight women and I found it interesting because it's not a topic I'm familiar with. That said, I kind of think you are missing the fun that the writer intended in this post. The writer obviously didn't really believe that this was the BEST writing in genre and didn't intend to slight gay literature at all.

Don't think so

He opens with this:

These 5 examples will showcase the worst covers that embrace our gay books, some of which are written by our best authors.

Look, either he was genuinely clueless and thought these were "gay books," or he's simply being mean about the books and their covers.Notice the "best authors" reference.

Which is it?

Note this paragraph:

So I totally thought I saw the worst with all that pink and the "copy / paste" psuedo porn in the book cover above, that is until I found this little gem. First off, look at that guys hair - are you kidding me? I think they tried to "feather" it first and then just layed it on the side. Second - why is there always a greasy looking Eurpoean guy? Third - this cover looks like it fell out of a "Lifetime movie" commercial - that might actually be a good thing though (the "Gays" love Lifetime). The only thing the cover is missing is the words "not without", if it did I probably would have just assumed it was from Lifetime.

Aside from the grammar and spelling problems--which are frequent enough to be distracting--this is offensive.

The question is:

Who is he making fun of? How is this "fun"? Why is it on a blog about gay lit?

Fair enough and I totally

Fair enough and I totally understand where you're coming from; I just think the general population at large is not all that aware of this genre of fiction and that may have been what happened to the author.

Gay Book Club

Gay lit of all genres, from the best fiction to biographies to graphic novels

You are here