Damn Shame
A Memoir of Desire, Defiance, and Show Tunes
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4.7 • 3 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
A funny, daring, bawdy and incredibly honest memoir from the anti-ageist, anti-body shaming, pro-sex advocate and erotic provocateur.
Over the course of his 40-year career in show business, David Pevsner has done it all. He’s acted on Broadway, off-Broadway, in independent films and on numerous TV network shows including Grey’s Anatomy, Modern Family and Criminal Minds.
As he continues his career in entertainment, Pevsner has also dedicated himself to exploring his deepest sexual fantasies. In his late 30s he became a mature male escort and over the last several years has attracted a large international fan base through his blog of erotic photographs celebrating nudity and sexuality.
Damn Shame is David Pevsner’s incredible story and is a passionate and poignant look at one man’s journey from a thin, shy boy ashamed of his body and sexuality to a defiant, fearless everyman exploring his erotic desires, everything from leather and S&M to nude/erotic/hardcore modelling. Along the way, he fights back against society’s demonization of gay sex, body shaming and ageism while pursuing his own very personal definition of success and seeking love, validation and self-esteem.
Damn Shame gives a loud and powerful voice to a generation of mature men who have been conditioned to believe from society (and especially younger members of the gay community) that they are sexually irrelevant, old and undesirable. Pevsner’s life story goes in directions that many couldn’t imagine, but the lessons learned through his experiences will resonate with readers of every age.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Broadway and screen actor Pevsner dishes on his 35-year career as a "writer, actor, musician, gay man, activist... sex pig, shameless exhibitionist" in his entertaining debut. While the title implies a phantom "it's a" antecedent to complete the turn of phrase, it's actually shame itself that Pevsner's damning: the shame of being gay as a young boy growing in the suburbs of Chicago in the 1960s; of barely performing acceptable masculinity for mainstream theater in the '90s—starring in, among other productions, the 1990 revival of Fiddler on the Roof; and, most of all, of the love for sex that drew him to bathhouses across America, the world of erotic photography, and a decade-long stint as a "mature" gay escort that led to his pornographic work ("I'm naked all over the Net... in various states of arousal and sexual activity"). Through the lows of romantic heartbreak, whorephobia, and professional dissatisfaction, Pevsner narrates his path toward self-love: "The condemnation thickened my skin and made me stronger.... It led me to say, good, have at it." These heartfelt meditations on sexual shame in a heteronormative culture will enlighten readers of all identities.
