{"product_id":"2940044237759","title":"Grab Bag 3","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe third of habu’s Grab Bag short story anthologies is much like the first two, a totally unthemed gay male story collection that skips over the world in location and across time in setting and offers a variety of thoughtful themes, romance, humor, hot sex, irony, twist and\/or twisted endings, and much else that has dropped out of habu’s fertile mind and into his computer on almost a daily basis during the past year. Included in this fifteen-story collection are, in addition to contemporary explorations of being an “actively gay male” in the United States, stories reflective of habu’s past in Bangkok and Hong Kong; a few inspired by a recent trip to England, Wales, and Scotland, and even a short trip to Portugal as well as several exploring favorite themes of his: first times, older and younger men, black on white, surprise and unexpected twists, and the worlds of art and spies.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe anthology fittingly starts with a “first time” story, “The Awakening,” of a young man doing just that—awakening to his sexuality and his preference as he’s thrust out into the world from a protected childhood. From there, the anthology takes a wide turn to the humorous in “Best Job in the World,” with a skin magazine editor receiving a surprise “thanks” visit from one of his unlikely authors. Turning to snarky, “Lance’s Secret” is about the plight of a college fraternity house “reliever.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Emmet” takes us to a university community, where a very proper university don develops a fixation on a black working-class neighbor and gives up all of his academic pretensions. “Ernestine,” which continues the black and white element, is one of habu’s rare explorations into the world of transvestites.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Loving Wife” turns to a somber note, with a real-world look at the threat to an older-younger, same-sex marriage built on the sex drive when the older partner is dying from cancer.\u003cbr\u003eWe zip off next for Portugal in “Chaz’s Choice” for a “rubber-meets-the-road” decision that has to be made in the nasty world of spying. “The Negotiator,” the first of three England-based stories in the anthology, offers a different kind of espionage, as two men work each other as they each work to come out on top in an international business transaction.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The Clothes Horse,” takes us to Hong Kong for the story of a deal to exchange services for sexy men’s clothes. In “The Video List,” a young man in rural Virginia learns that it’s more exciting and profitable to be in gay sex videos than to work in a video store. “The Celtic Sonata of Life” crosses the Atlantic to England’s Cotswolds and a special service vacation cottage. “On a String in Bangkok” takes the reader back across the world for a habu reminiscence about gay life in Bangkok in the mid-seventies and the particular meaning of being “on a string.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn a change-of-pace and timing piece for this anthology, “Training Asu,” set in an ancient Middle Eastern city, covers the coming-of-age initiation of a beautiful young man. “So You Want to Be in Movies” is the proverbial film producer office couch audition story, but laced with a bit of mystery and menace. The anthology ends with a historical piece set in Norwich, England, covering the developing professional life of a fine young artist who was willing to do anything to receive the mentoring of an older, accomplished artist.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BarbarianSpy","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47173555060976,"sku":"2940044237759","price":6.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940044237759_p0.jpg?v=1763957512","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940044237759","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}