He states many times in his book that he didn’t mind because he rationalized that everyone was having a good time, right? Bowers said he never took payment for arranging sexual encounters for others, only when he provided sex himself, and that though he was bisexual, his own preference was for women. I felt like I was reading the trashiest, cattiest tabloid out there, only it was about stars of the 1950's. If you’re the type of person who listens to Gilbert Gottfried’s podcast, you’re going to feel right at home in Scotty’s abode. But what surprised me, and really seemed to set up Scotty's attitude for the rest of his life, was noting how that grief and loss made him embrace life and do so without judgment or reservation.

What strains credulity most is how absolutely everyone Bowers ever met immediately thought he was hot, and charming, and intelligent, and business-savvy, and spectacular both in and out of bed, and they all remained his besties until they died.Gradually, Scotty began hooking up Hollywood's rich and famous, among many others, with his fellow Marines who hung around the gas station anyway looking for ways to earn quick money. And you almost feel he might have been, to judge by Gore Vidal's endorsement of this book: "I have known Scotty Bowers the better part of a century … Scotty doesn't lie. I can't quite think of another autobiography featuring such purple prose and such an unreliable narrator—or in which I've had to suspend, from front to back cover, such a great amount of disbelief.

During the time the studios held their stars to a strict moral code and had family friendly images built around their personal lives. I did sometimes wonder if it was all true, but I sometimes googled some of the people the author was talking about and found out that it seems most of the stuff was real.No matter how much Bowers proclaims to feeling happy to bring other men joy through sexual activities, he was still a child and that just felt so very wrong to me. Scotty Bowers goes on and on about how awful someone was but then ends it with "but we were very good friends and remained so for years. There is also an anecdote about Scotty getting historic examples of pornography to Kinsey's institute that is too good for me to spoil. You also don't have to inevitably indicate love by talking about swelling cocks or fizzing crotches (trying to avoid the word moist;-)).

Now that I have that out of the way, I won't try and say I believe all he has talked about in the book.

Bowers' illicit activities were never detected by the authorities; he kept all his contact information in his head. There's only so much one can do with a steaming pile of gross-out anecdotes, repetitive passages and constant self one-upmanship.

It's the same format every time: some famous person rolls up to the gas station where Bowers worked, or meets him while he's bartending some swanky party, and propositions him, which leads to them doing all manner of sex stuff. Bowers presents himself as a sort of unpaid pimp, and it is perplexing why he bothered to do all that work for nothing. He was very good-looking, and flexible, so the "tricking" he speaks of began as servicing men who wanted blow jobs or more – Walter Pidgeon (Mr Miniver!At this point, the foundations of the club are looking shaky, but I was still happy to read the inaugural tome, an explicit, dishy, and decidedly good-natured romp through the sexual peccadillos of the rich and famous. The Atlantic Wire "The Scotty I knew was a guy who always seemed to be enjoying his life working morning, noon and night, with never a gripe; always with a smile to greet you, and never with an axe to grind. Most people will probably read this book for the Hollywood gossip about who was really Bi or Gay in Hollywood. Tennessee Williams once wrote an account of my life and adventures in Hollywood, but I told him to burn it -- it was beautifully written, but made me sound like the mother of all queens! If you want to get a sampling of the stuff in this book, but you don't want to wade through everything I've just outlined, stick to the documentary, SCOTTY AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD.