Review - Debauchery by Young

Young and his guardian-lover Andy are about to start their next tour of service as harem boys in a Middle-Eastern household. Their next master is the “prince” of a gulf state, and the young men already know the man has some extreme tastes. Navigating the intrigues of the royal family as well as the demands of the prince's guests from European nobility is going to prove challenging for the pair. But first, they have to bid farewell to their other lover, Oscar, who is graduating and starting university.

“Debauchery” is a very fitting title for this third book of this autobiography. Prince ‘P’ was introduced in the previous volume, but despite the bad behavior he exhibited in Unbridled, we come to see him as relatively tame compared to the rest of his family and the faded French nobles that form his inner circle. At times it seems like Young would be safer swimming in shark-infested waters.

The author has become bolder in describing his sexual encounters, but he does so with such florid language that it's almost laughable. It puts one in mind of old clichés about romance books and their over-use of euphemisms.

Young's service is not a non-stop orgy, however. He is still technically an exchange student, and his masters are responsible for providing tutors to continue his education. One of the main themes of the lessons related in this installment is regarding the history of pederasty. Throughout the ancient world, from the soldiers of Sparta to the samurai of Japan, there was a tradition of mature men mentoring adolescent boys in the arts of love and war. The relationship would end when the younger man matured. He might marry and have children but would still have the responsibility of taking on an adolescent of his own one day. As the need for a warrior class declined, the practice began to die out. Then it was demonized by the Christo-fascists.

These lessons are no doubt related, in part, to defend the clandestine harem-boy service that the author is enrolled in. The writer never misses an opportunity to say he has no regrets about his involvement in the secret society despite the somewhat harrowing experiences he has in this volume of his memoirs.

I still have my doubts about the authenticity of many of the events related in this memoir. At the very least, it feels like there has been a lot of exaggeration for dramatic effect. But, what I also realized is that the stories provoke a lot of thoughts and things to look into, even if it's just to find out how much of the history lessons are really true, and that's not a bad thing at all. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter if the books are fact or fiction. They tell a good story, which is what's important.

“Debauchery” is available from Amazon.