Savage Love: Straight Answers from America's Most Popular Sex Columnist

Dan Savage might hate to hear this, but he has a fairly conventional morality. Yes, that gay advocate of sexual pleasure, known from time to time to advocate infidelity, actually comes across as a person who, through hearing the whinings and self-deception of thousands of letter writers, has come to some general conclusions like: honesty is really a good idea in the long run, consideration will usually rebound in your favor, etc. No, nobody is going to read this book to hear from someone with a neoconservative ethics. You're going to read it to get some pointers on oral or anal sex, or for the laughs, or to learn about the best sex tip: talking to your partner about what you want.

I've been reading Dan Savage for several years now, and couldn't have been happier than to see so much of his writing assembled in one convenient package (toting around all those back issues of the New York Press was getting my hands all newsprinty...). Dan isn't particularly groundbreaking in his advice. Fortunately, that isn't necessary; most of the people who write into him seem to be candidates for the Darwin Awards. When he's mean, it's usually deserved. The wonder is in the humor. Yes, the column is usually more about Dan Savage than anything else, but of course that's the subtext of most good essayists and all good comedians. Were we as interesting or funny as Dan we might also be paid to write about ourselves, but since we aren't, we put our efforts into macrame or geneology or philately. Or dreadful websites that make family Christmas letters look like Henry James.The oddest criticism, however, is the suggestion he has no morals. (The real criticism, of course, is that his morals are different from the reader's, but that point always seems to escape these people.) In fact, Dan wears his morals on his shirt sleeve, and they're often not that much different from a lot of folks': honesty, fairness, fidelity, prudence. My only question: why hasn't he moved to New York? He'd fit in much better here. I should know, I left Seattle!

What guts Dan Savage has! Finally, someone who will actually give real answers to people's questions. Sex is one of our most basic instincts, the driving force behind sports, love, romance, daily activity and most relationships. Most people pussyfoot around reality, asking indirect questions and getting less than direct answers. Dan gets to the real issues and gets people to talk about what they're really worried about. Every high school student in America would be well-served to have such information available, in my opinion, and I wish I'd had this book to read when I was growing up. The book is so very funny - I picked it up in Cleveland last fall and for awhile carried it with me on business flights. I had to stop reading the book on planes because I was causing such a comotion with my spontaneous outbursts of laughter. If you only read the book for the humor it's worthwhile but if you don't use the information and take it to heart, you're a fool. Excellent book!

Five minutes of Lovelines is all I can stand before screaming in actual pain. But Dan Savage makes me swoon and reminds me that yes, intelligent life that can speak frankly and honestly about sex without making things up ("kinky people were abused as kids!") can found on planet earth.He is the patron saint of realistic sex information. I adore him. I read him every week. What more can I say..

Savage's book culls the best from his witty columns. He's a gifted writer and offers some genuinely excellent advice on an amazing range of topics. It really shows Savage at his best and provides a good laugh along with lots of thought provoking prose.To those of you thinking this book is all about Dan, you're wrong. While it's often about his opinions, isn't that what people writing for advice are seeking? Further, he often includes follow-up letters from readers providing alternative views to his own advice. Read this book not just for what Savage has to say, but for what the hundreds of others have said in their (often highly amusing) letters.If you've never read any of Savage's work, and enjoy brash advice columns, you're in for a treat. Even if you've been reading his column, you should still check out this "best of" book. You'd be hard pressed to find this much wit, advice and reading entertainment anywhere else.