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Tangled Sheets
From Michael Thomas Ford, the critically acclaimed author of Last Summer and Alec Baldwin Doesn't Love Me, comes this sizzling collection of fantasies culled from more than a decade of his best erotic work. These stories of heat, lust, desire, need, and transformation-an Olympian bacchanal, a chance meeting in the men's room, an S&M-fueled "coaching" session, a police officer who'll do what it takes to get a confession-are as incredibly hot as they are exquisitely crafted. There's "Becoming Al", an "X-rated Flannery O'Connor story" that takes place on the stage at a male peep show. The mosh pit of an underground club brings two punks to the edge and over in the adrenaline-charged "Diving the Pit". A gorgeous window washer gives a worker drone some high-rise sex in "Washing Up". And the power of a young man's first sexual awakening-and the reunion it inspires twenty years later-lies at the heart of the achingly sensual "The Boys of Summer". Along the way, Ford turns up the heat by confessing the naughty personal thoughts that inspired his steamiest erotica. A visit to his incredibly sexy dentist led to Ford's delicious story of one explosive oral exam in "The Check Up". The summer sounds drifting up from the New York City streets on a hot summer night influenced Ford's sinfully sexy voyeuristic fantasy, Wednesday, 2 A.M. A hunky conductor on a commuter train gave Ford lustful thoughts and a whole new meaning for the term "Riding the Rails". And the discovery of anonymous nude Polaroids gave birth to the no-holds-barred "Dirty Pictures". Hard-core, tender, imaginative, candid, and just plain hot, these stories prove that when it comes to erotica that's down-and-dirty AND intelligent, nobody does it better than Michael Thomas Ford.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
16 people are currently reading
193 people want to read
About the author
Michael Thomas Ford
61 books805 followersMichael Thomas Ford is the author of more than 75 books in genres ranging from humor to horror, literary fiction to nonfiction. His work for adult readers includes the best-selling novels What We Remember, The Road Home, Changing Tides, Full Circle, Looking for It and Last Summer, and his five essay collections in the "Trials of My Queer Life" series. His novel Lily was a Tiptree Award Longlist title and a finalist for both the Lambda Literary Award and the Shirley Jackson Award. He is also the author of the Sickening Adventures series of books featuring popular contestants from RuPaul's Drag Race.
As a writer for young adults he is the author of the novels Suicide Notes, Z, and Love & Other Curses, and under the name Isobel Bird he wrote the popular "Circle of Three" series. His work has been nominated for 14 Lambda Literary Awards, twice winning for Best Humor Book, twice for Best Romance Novel, and once for Best Mystery. He was also nominated for a Horror Writers Association Bram Stoker Award (for his novel The Dollhouse That Time Forgot).
As a writer for young adults he is the author of the novels Suicide Notes, Z, and Love & Other Curses, and under the name Isobel Bird he wrote the popular "Circle of Three" series. His work has been nominated for 14 Lambda Literary Awards, twice winning for Best Humor Book, twice for Best Romance Novel, and once for Best Mystery. He was also nominated for a Horror Writers Association Bram Stoker Award (for his novel The Dollhouse That Time Forgot).
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 7, 2020
I bought Tangled Sheets at the Lambda Rising bookstore in Dupont Circle, DC, around 2004. I had just come out of the closet a few years earlier, was an avid reader, and turned to gay literature as a man in my early 20’s seeking to learn and find my place in the gay community. I had read two of Ford’s books, and the chance to pick up a book of his erotica was hard to pass.
The first stories were hot, to be sure, but as a young man I was still mostly interested in the bodies of men my age. Twinks were all the rage, and I couldn’t quite connect to the sex had between men more than a decade older than me. Forgive the young for their narrow experience.
The book stayed buried in a side table drawer by my bed over the years as my career moved me through a few cities. Recently, while cleaning out that drawer, I came across the largely unread book, and my memory swam, as I began to read it anew.
These stories are boiling hot, and with guys of a variety of ages and types, in contrast with my memory. I found myself reading a few stories before bed every night. Far from just a masturbatory fantasy, although the book easily checks that box, Ford’s erotica is more sophisticated, even literary at times. There are frequent themes and allusion on display, in addition to the steamy sex. Sometimes the encounters are rough and hard, sometimes between old friends or lovers, and frequently loving and promising of something fuller and more real to come.
They are also from a different time, now. These days, young gay men are frequently obsessed with cleanliness, to the point of killing sexual spontaneity. I confess that I, myself, have fallen into this sterile expectation. The demystification of the porn world means every bottom has their own douche bulb, and excuses themself to the bathroom till their assholes run clear like the pure waters of the Jordan on a spring day. Even 15 years ago, we gave ourselves some special attention in the shower, but this level of fastidiousness was unthinkable outside of a bright lit room in a warehouse in San Diego.
Not so, the sex in this compilation. When the heat is on, the sweat drips, the musk is ripe, and real men are sucking cocks on piss stained floors, at least, in some of the stories.
“In the fairy tale, everything would be clear and clean and surrounded by the scent of roses. But this is real life, where people stink and shit and piss on a regular basis, and sex is about what’s left on your dick when you’re done,” as the narrator concludes in one tale.
Gross, you might be saying. Or maybe, fuck yeah. Either way, this is the kind of raw sex I like to have, at least occasionally.
There’s plenty of fairy tales to be had in this volume as well. 😉
I’m looking for recommendations on other collections like this.
The first stories were hot, to be sure, but as a young man I was still mostly interested in the bodies of men my age. Twinks were all the rage, and I couldn’t quite connect to the sex had between men more than a decade older than me. Forgive the young for their narrow experience.
The book stayed buried in a side table drawer by my bed over the years as my career moved me through a few cities. Recently, while cleaning out that drawer, I came across the largely unread book, and my memory swam, as I began to read it anew.
These stories are boiling hot, and with guys of a variety of ages and types, in contrast with my memory. I found myself reading a few stories before bed every night. Far from just a masturbatory fantasy, although the book easily checks that box, Ford’s erotica is more sophisticated, even literary at times. There are frequent themes and allusion on display, in addition to the steamy sex. Sometimes the encounters are rough and hard, sometimes between old friends or lovers, and frequently loving and promising of something fuller and more real to come.
They are also from a different time, now. These days, young gay men are frequently obsessed with cleanliness, to the point of killing sexual spontaneity. I confess that I, myself, have fallen into this sterile expectation. The demystification of the porn world means every bottom has their own douche bulb, and excuses themself to the bathroom till their assholes run clear like the pure waters of the Jordan on a spring day. Even 15 years ago, we gave ourselves some special attention in the shower, but this level of fastidiousness was unthinkable outside of a bright lit room in a warehouse in San Diego.
Not so, the sex in this compilation. When the heat is on, the sweat drips, the musk is ripe, and real men are sucking cocks on piss stained floors, at least, in some of the stories.
“In the fairy tale, everything would be clear and clean and surrounded by the scent of roses. But this is real life, where people stink and shit and piss on a regular basis, and sex is about what’s left on your dick when you’re done,” as the narrator concludes in one tale.
Gross, you might be saying. Or maybe, fuck yeah. Either way, this is the kind of raw sex I like to have, at least occasionally.
There’s plenty of fairy tales to be had in this volume as well. 😉
I’m looking for recommendations on other collections like this.
August 9, 2016
I don't think that I have ever read a series of short stories that was more erotic. That being said, I usually read books that have a story to enjoy and this only had sex. If that's what you want, this is it.
I did appreciate how Ford mixed up his adjectives and adverbs so that even if you didn't read the title or the brief review, you'd get the idea that this was a fishing themed encounter, or a Santa encounter, or even a Latter Day encounter. This knowledge of the English language and it's appropriate use didn't surprise me since Mr. Ford is one of my favorite M/M authors.
Now I am back to full blown novels. (No pun intended.)
I did appreciate how Ford mixed up his adjectives and adverbs so that even if you didn't read the title or the brief review, you'd get the idea that this was a fishing themed encounter, or a Santa encounter, or even a Latter Day encounter. This knowledge of the English language and it's appropriate use didn't surprise me since Mr. Ford is one of my favorite M/M authors.
Now I am back to full blown novels. (No pun intended.)
December 28, 2008
This is an outstanding collection of erotic gay short stories by Michael Thomas Ford. This is not your run-of-the-mill gay porn pulp. Each of these stories are well-crafted and thoughtful. This is truly gay erotic fiction at its very best. It is very rare to find literary erotic stories. Ford makes it seem effortless and that is remarkable because through all of the "cum" and other sexual language that is inherent in this genre the author creates a multi-dimensional story that is pleasant to read. Despite the graphic sexuality.
October 23, 2022
I had no idea an author I like also wrote erotic fiction that I had known from gay magazines. Despite some potential for repetitive plots in a collection of over 300 pages, the personal revelations about the inspirations for these stories that served as very brief prefaces to each story made them a bit more fun.
April 10, 2022
Loved this book.
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March 16, 2018What can I say; hot, hot and sizzling hot! Michael Thomas Ford started writing male/male erotica years before gaining fame as a non-fiction writer. The stories contained in this re-release are a compilation of his best!
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November 23, 2012very good book
November 23, 2013
Not a bad collection of stories to read before you go to bed. I haven't finished reading all of them though. Borrowed it from a friend.
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November 16, 2016Tangled Sheets is a young adult book that holds a a series of short stories about different sexual experiences. Great and very interesting read.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews