Damn Shame: A Memoir of Desire, Defiance, and Show Tunes

Broadway and screen actor Pevsner dishes on his 35-year career as a “writer, actor, musician, gay man, activist... sex pig, [and] 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. (Jan.)