Boy culture cover

Boy culture

by Matthew Rettenmund

In the tradition of The Story of O comes this story of "X," a wise-cracking, postmodern callboy who cheerfully relates all the juicy details of his commissioned sexual encounters in a series of twenty-three confessions that are sometimes shocking, sometimes touching, but always uproarious. Most people confess their sins, but X confesses his weaknesses, those things about himself that point to his humanity and unwelcomed sentimentality. Since he turned his first trick at fifteen, X hasn't had a romantic urge for anyone. But suddenly everything is changing, and X finds his long-frozen sex drive thawing. The object of his affections is his roommate, Andrew, a great big hunk who is confused about his sexuality. Meanwhile, X's other roommate - a precocious, seventeen-year-old partyboy named Joe - is falling for X in a big way. X soon discovers how messy uncommissioned and unrequited lust can be.

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?