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A review by readbycallum
100 Boyfriends by Brontez Purnell
4.0
Brontez Purnell you wonderful, filthy bastard.
I didn't realise this was a short story collection going in but it was a welcome surprise.
There is so, so much to love in these stories of flawed gay men searching for connection, love, home and (obviously) good dick.
It would be easy to read these on a surface level as smutty tales of slutty men taking drugs and fucking each other (and I don't think that would be a bad thing) but each of the characters, no matter how broken, unlikeable or messy, are deeply loveable and searching for something.
It speaks to a particular kind of modern gay experience (note I say 'a particular kind' of 'the' and also I am referring specifically to cis gay men as that is my only lived reference) where sex is used for many reasons. It's currency. It's distraction. It's sedative and stimulant. It's a past time. It's a way to emulate a sense of belonging. It allows you to feel wanted in that moment.
None of the stories contain great romances (at least not in the traditional sense) and we don't see the characters settling down or meeting the love of their lives. They often end up in the same place they started, or somewhere very similar.
Oh, and this book is also fucking hilarious.
I didn't realise this was a short story collection going in but it was a welcome surprise.
There is so, so much to love in these stories of flawed gay men searching for connection, love, home and (obviously) good dick.
It would be easy to read these on a surface level as smutty tales of slutty men taking drugs and fucking each other (and I don't think that would be a bad thing) but each of the characters, no matter how broken, unlikeable or messy, are deeply loveable and searching for something.
It speaks to a particular kind of modern gay experience (note I say 'a particular kind' of 'the' and also I am referring specifically to cis gay men as that is my only lived reference) where sex is used for many reasons. It's currency. It's distraction. It's sedative and stimulant. It's a past time. It's a way to emulate a sense of belonging. It allows you to feel wanted in that moment.
None of the stories contain great romances (at least not in the traditional sense) and we don't see the characters settling down or meeting the love of their lives. They often end up in the same place they started, or somewhere very similar.
Oh, and this book is also fucking hilarious.