Gordon Hoban (August 4, 1941 - April 10, 1993)

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Gordon Hoban (born August 4, 1941, Faribault MN, USA, died of AIDS on April 10, 1993, Kakuihaele, Hawaii) was an American writer, a dramatist who wrote porno and S&M works. His books include "Adventures of a High School Hunk," 1990, "The Marine Olaf," 1990, and "Runaway."

Gordon Hoban was an actor in the Mark Taper Forum's Los Angeles production of A Meeting by the River, written by Christopher Isherwood and Don Bacardy when he first thought of becoming a writer himself. He credits Isherwood's example as his impetus. Hoban moved into scriptwriting first, authoring a couple episodes of the television hit "The Paper Chase" and working later on Twentieth Century Fox development projects for the movies. On the sly he was writing pornography as Tom Hardy. As he saw his script work being more and more dictated by committee, he realized that the porn was the source of his greatest satisfaction and that much of that satisfaction
came from his ability to control the writing.

He escaped to an isolated valley in Hawaii where he lived for the first several years under a tarp and walked for miles to a pay phone with a pocket full of change whenever he wanted to contact the rest of the world. The sacrifice enabled him to start Omnium Publishing, with which he's published his stage plays, as well as his erotic novels.

His story collections and novels were privately republished. "Runaway" is the best collection, "The Marine Olaf" probably the best novel. At his best, his work was definitely literature, not just stroke fiction.

Further Readings:

Flesh and the Word: An Anthology of Erotic Writing by John D. Preston
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Plume (January 1, 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0452267757
ISBN-13: 978-0452267756
Amazon: Flesh and the Word: An Anthology of Erotic Writing

In an era of changing attitudes, this ground-breaking anthology offers an exciting selection of gay erotic writing from the early days of pulp paper and underground distribution to today's imaginatively provocative writing. While providing a fascinating look at the course of gay consciousness over the past fifty years, it also, most enthrallingly, offers the best sexually arousing fiction centering on gay men.

The Green Hotel by Tom Hardy
Paperback: 222 pages
Publisher: Omniun Publishing (1987)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0944204031
ISBN-13: 978-0944204030
Amazon: The Green Hotel

Runaway: More Stories by Tom Hardy
Paperback: 217 pages
Publisher: Omnium Publishing, Kukuihaele, Hawaii (1989)
ASIN: B004G2ALL6
Amazon: Runaway: More Stories

The Marine Olaf by Gordon Hoban
Paperback: 155 pages
Publisher: Omniun Pub (November 1990)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0944204090
ISBN-13: 978-0944204092
Amazon: The Marine Olaf

Comments

The Green Hotel

[(Anonymous)]

The Green Hotel is by far the best work of Tom Hardy/Gordon Hoban.

And I say that as a winner of Lambda Literature Award for gay male erotica.