The Raunchiest Men in History

About the Book

Americans are confronted with a paradox, which is that the great writers, poets and artists of history spoke openly and freely about their sexuality. The Hollywood crowd, in contrast, are paranoid, close mouthed and tight lipped about this subject. From Diogenes, the peripetitic philosopher who masturbated in the Athenian market place to William Shakespeare who very candidly maps out his intelligent ménage a trios in his sonnets; from Jean Jacques Rousseau who earned the dubious sobriquet, “The Famous Masturbator” because he spoke openly about this in his book “The Confessions” to Ernest Hemingway bragging about his masturbation sessions on the Paris Left Bank, the great men of the intellectual world were open and candid about their sexuality. Contrast this to the secretive, close mouthed Hollywood gang who present a picture of men who are perfect in their marriage and sexuality. In his book “The Raunchiest Men in History” the author attempts to provide an explanation for this. First, in his second chapter titled, “Dirty Minded old William”, the author delves into the kinky, quirky life of the Bard of Avon as it is mapped out in Joel Fineman’s incredible book, “Shakespeare’s Perjured Eye.” The writer discusses Shakespeare’s intelligent ménage a trios as he maps it out in his sonnets, in which Shakespeare describes his homoerotic attraction for another man and their mutual relationship with a “dark lady.” Shakespeare has a male paramour whom he “idealizes,” and a female lover whom he “despises.” Despises? Yes, despises because as Shakespeare describes her she is “foul,” duplicitous and “dark as night.” She can’t be trusted. Shakespeare calls her “ugly,” not because she was physically so---she may have been very attractive---but she is “ugly on the inside.” She’s carnal, coarse, sensual, and lusty, but most troublesome to Shakespeare, is that she is predictably unfaithful. This, understandably, may have something to do with the fact that she is called, “The Dark Lady.” Why then, is Shakespeare attracted to her? It’s a baffling question, even for Shakespeare, and one to which he addresses himself in many of the sonnets. The writer then moves on to a discussion of some of history’s famous masturbators---Hemingway, Diogenes, Joyce Swinburne---and that famous masturbator of all, Jean Jacques Rousseau who wrote freely about his onanism in his book “The Confessions.” The writer then recounts his own intensely personal experiences with sex in the public schools where, as a young male teacher and a former lifeguard, he was seduced on more than one occasion by attractive female colleagues and subject to countless sexual passes made at him by girls of every age level. All of this held up against the cold, imperious, cynical, official Hollywood mentality which holds up a front of perfect sexuality. The great men of the intellectual world, albeit somewhat dirty minded, reveal a humanity that is conspicuously absent from the Hollywood gang. The writer then delves into the psychology of a greed driven America that sends young men off to die another meaningless war while super-yuppie, self absorbed America callously pursue their hedonistic lifestyles. The writer contrasts this with the mentality of America’s great utopian past, specifically the WWII era, during which time America went to war as a family. Even movie actors and professional athletes gave up their careers to go and fight with our troops in the field. Big money now sits like a gorilla atop the former great American nation controlling our business world, our cultural life, our movie industry and even our thinking. From an early age, American children are taught that “greed is good.” The book then delves into the obscene and the lusty world of the “keepers of faith,” specially the sexual histories of popes and cardinals. The term “Holy Father” as it applied to the papacy came, in the history of the church, to have its own special meaning. Not unlike secular life rank bough

About the Author

Thomas Smith graduated from the University of Washington, traveled to the Far East and taught in the American military dependents schools during the Vietnam era. While living in Taiwan, Smith fell under the spell of a seductive Chinese dragon lady who bore him one son. The ex Mrs. Smith now lives in Seattle where she is a successful businesswoman and a leader in the Seattle Chinese community. Thomas Smith is a homeless man whose deep and abiding love in Shakespeare and the great men of the intellectual world led him to write this book.