"Entertaining and informative." Merrill Cole, author of "The Other Orpheus: A Poetics of Modern Homosexuality" Since we all have one and use it every day, why is it that people squirm when the anus is mentioned? In "Reading from Behind, " Jonathan Allan addresses this question in a playful, yet scholarly exploration of everything from porn to poetry, from "Brokeback Mountain" to "Myra Breckinridge, "democratizing the anus as a site of necessity and as a location of pleasure. "Allan's ambitious and controversial research project on anal erotics is a remarkably fresh and original contribution. With "Reading from Behind, " Allan will emerge as a widely respected critical voice of his generation." David William Foster, author of "Sexual Textualities: Essays on Queer/ing Latin American Writing "and "Gay and Lesbian Themes in Latin American Writing" "Reorients studies of anality." Todd Reeser, author of "Moderating Masculinity in Early Modern Culture" and "Masculinities in Theory".