‘Life, Leather and the Pursuit of Happiness’ by Steve Lenius
Author: Sassafras Lowrey
April 4, 2011
If you’re looking to expand your leather library, Steve Lenius’ Life, Leather and the Pursuit of Happiness (CreateSpace) is a great place to begin. The book is made up of selections from his infamous “Leather Life” column, originally published in Lavender magazine over the span of 15 years, now updated and annotated for the book.
Life, Leather and the Pursuit of Happiness is a wonderful historical text, giving context and background on various aspects of the leather community, from bar culture and interpersonal relationships to leather contests.
The scope of the book is primarily focused on gay male leather community, with the occasional reference to leather dykes and transgender leather folks. However, these references are few and far between, sometimes more tokenized than the fleshed-out representation that is so thoroughly given to men and gay leather men’s community.
That said, Lenius acknowledges his own personal biases, and the way that the column was based on his experience as a gay man in the community. So, while I would have liked to see a more diverse representation of leather culture, within the framework of the book I think the particular focus made sense.
One of the key strengths of the book is the ways in which Lenius focuses on community, interpersonal relationships, and the overarching leather culture, as opposed to getting sucked into a 101 style deconstruction and focus on particular acts or activities—a trap that many BDSM or leather focused books fall into.
The columns are separated by theme into fifteen chapters ranging from topics like leather history and family, to politics, holidays, and spirituality. I would have liked to have seen a larger, diverse, and more fleshed-out focus on leather families and long term power exchange relationships.
Lenius is trying to cover a lot of ground with these topics. He is remarkably successful while remaining accessible and interesting to a range of readers—from those who are curious but new to BDSM, all the way to established leather folk.
Leather is an important part of my life, and I’m always on the lookout for texts that represent my family and community positively and authentically. Life, Leather and the Pursuit of Happiness is a great example of a book that does this well. Lenius, a long-term leatherman, has the experience to have gifted the community with a book of this depth.
Life, Leather, and the Pursuit of Happiness will be looked at for years to come as a resource for outsiders and beginners to understand more about leather community. I hope it will also be seen as touchstone chronicling an important decade in leather history, filled with growth and greater visibility.
——
Life, Leather and the Pursuit of Happiness
Life, history and culture in the leather/BDSM/fetish community
by Steve Lenius
CreateSpace
Paperback, 9780984300228, 336p
May 11, 2010
