Male prostitution

John Rechy's novel, "City of Night," now marking its 50th anniversary, allows one to gauge the changing history of male prostitution in this country.

A while back, with no special qualifications for the job on either side, I essayed to write an article on the subject. i missed a major evolution. When Rechy wrote, hustlers were macho, crude, surly, and straight-identified. They were also relatively cheap.

Not even called that now (the proper term is "escort"), the new ones tend to be educated, polite, able to converse on a variety of topics - male geishas in short. Rates start at $200 an hour. This is a big change.

For an attempt to reconstruct the earlier mode, see http://www.amazon.com/New-York-Hustlers-Masculinity-Encounters/dp/0719080088/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top