Description

A FRANK, FUNNY, EXPLICIT, AND INSPIRING MEMOIR ABOUT HOW DANCING NAKED IN GAY CLUBS IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL HELPED A COLLEGE PROFESSOR DISCOVER HIS TRUE SELF.

I felt that I'd made a transformation as surely as Superman slipping out of a phone booth or Wonder Woman doing a sunburst spin. I was bare-ass in a room of paying strangers, a stripper. After years of wondering what it would be like, I had done it -- faced a fear, defied expectation, embraced a taboo self. It was only the beginning....

All I Could Bare is the story of a mild-mannered graduate student who "took the road less clothed" -- a decision that was life changing. Seymour embarked on his journey in the 1990s, when Washington, D.C.'s gay club scene was notoriously no-holds-barred, all the while trying to keep his newfound vocation a secret from his parents and maintain a relation-ship with his boyfriend, Seth. Along the way he met some unforgettable characters -- the fifty-year-old divorcé who's obsessed with a twenty-one-year-old dancer, the celebrated drag diva who hailed from a small town in rural Virginia, and the many straight guys who were "gay for pay." Seymour gives us both the highs (money, adoration, camaraderie) and the lows (an ill-fated attempt at prostitution, a humiliating porn audition).

Ultimately coming clean about his secret identity, Seymour breaks through taboos and makes his way from booty-baring stripper to Ph.D.-bearing academic, taking a detour into celebrity journalism and memorably crossing paths with Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, and Mary J. Blige along the way. Hilarious, insight-ful, and touching, All I Could Bare proves that sometimes the "wrong decision" can lead to the right place.

About the Author

Craig Seymour is a professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. A well-regarded writer and photographer, he is the author of Luther: The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross and has contributed numerous articles to The Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, Vibe, and other publications. He holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park. To learn more, visit www.craigseymour.com.

Praise for All I Could Bare: My Life in the Strip Clubs of Gay Washington, D.C.…

"Part sexy parable, part witty reminiscence, part informative history lesson, All I Could Bare is a captivating introspective into a world we all have pondered. Unflinchingly honest, Seymour shows that there's far more to being naked than taking off one's clothes."-- Josh Kilmer-Purcell, author of the New York Times bestseller I Am Not Myself These Days and Candy Everybody Wants

"A clever and candid look into the world of gay male stripping that is infectious, irreverent, and ultimately inspiring."-- Stewart Lewis, author of Rockstarlet

"Witty, humorous, and filled with the guilty indulgence of an unadulterated insider's view...a cunning memoir of what most gay men search for -- to be desired, and hot boys."-- Terrance Dean, author of Hiding in Hip Hop