Lambda Literary Award Finalist

Shortlisted for a TLA Gaybie Award (Best Gay Erotica)

From the editors of the Lambda Award-winning First Person Queer come these intelligent, sexy, true-life tales of gay men's desire. The stories push at the parameters of queer erotic life, featuring contributors both novice and well-known; subject matter ranges from single, significant encounters to the ephemera of emotional desires that never lead to physical pleasure. Throughout, the book deals with the essential erotics of queer male life, to be used as a launching point for exploring the queer male condition: essays that delve into the diverse manifestations of desire between and among men.

I Like It Like That features smart, savvy writing about desire and sex. Unlike mainstream porn imagery that by default dominates our cultural (and therefore personal) references, contributors reach into the far reaches of memory to tell true tales about personal erotic space.

Contributors include Paul Bellini, Steven Bereznai, S. Bear Bergman, Daniel Allen Cox, Jameson Currier, Viet Dinh, Larry Duplechan, Daniel Gawthrop, Sky Gilbert, Aaron Hamburger, Shaun Levin, Steve MacIsaac, Tim Miller, Andy Quan, and Shawn Syms.

Richard Labonte (1949-2022) was a writer, bookseller, and editor, best known as the editor or co-editor of numerous anthologies of LGBT literature. He was the co-founder of the LGBTQ bookstore A Different Light, and managed the store in Silver Lake, California for many years. As well, he was editor of Cleis Press' Best Gay Erotica series for many years; for Arsenal Pulp Press, he co-edited four anthologies with Lawrence Schimel: The Future Is Queer, First Person Queer, Second Person Queer, and I Like It Like That. He won three Lambda Literary Awards, for Best Gay Erotica 2005, First Person Queer, and Best Gay Erotica 2009.

Richard Labonte's profile page

Lawrence Schimel is an award-winning author and anthologist who has published over 70 books in many genres, including four anthologies for Arsenal Pulp Press, all co-edited with Richard Labonte: The Future Is Queer (2006), the Lambda Award-winning First Person Queer (2007), its sequel Second Person Queer (2009), and I Like It Like That (2009). His other books include Lambda winner PoMoSexuals: Challenging Assumptions about Gender and Sexuality (with Carol Queen), The Drag Queen of Elfland, The Mammoth Book of Gay Erotica, and Things Invisible to See: Lesbian and Gay Tales of Magic Realism. Formerly of New York, he has lived in Madrid, Spain since 1999.

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• Short-listed, Lambda Literary Award

At once provocative and insightful ... a terrific collection - well-paced and wide-ranging.
-Front&Centre

Hot but smart, passionate yet reflective, the collection presents work by both new and seasoned writers, delving deep into their erotic memories to tell true stories of sex and desire.
-Xtra!

Richard Labont and Lawrence Schimel have become masters of the queer literary anthology. Between them, they have edited over 40 books of queer writing, much of it gay erotic fiction, winning numerous lit awards for their efforts.... Their latest, I Like It Like That, will not disappoint. An eclectic collection of tall tales of sex and sexual longing, the stories run the spectrum but remain consistent in quality. This is an enticing selection, one that makes you want to reread particular stories, and they've once again done the laudable thing of including queer household names (like Sky Gilbert and Paul Bellini) alongside relatively new writers and emerging stars (like Shuck author Daniel Allen Cox).
-Montreal Mirror

[I Like It Like That] a reminder that virtual sex is best when it comes with a storyteller's skills, triggering your own memories of lust and love.... There's dizzying variety in these 34 entries.
-Jim Bartley, Xtra!