[1] The book has been translated into French, German, Italian, Swedish, and Japanese.

[2] The 207-page book serves as a how-to guide "with chapters on blowjobs, cruising and dirty talk, a gay Kama Sutra with suggested sex positions like 'the crab' and a cultural guide with non-sexual chapters on the realities of coming out, gay politics, racism and more.

[4] In his memoir, Silverstein wrote that they wanted the book to "have a wider focus than just sex, that it should also advise the reader about life in the gay community and the majority of passages in the finished book were of a nonsexual nature.

Silverstein was White's therapist when the publisher offered him the job as co-writer.

"[2] The book was followed by The New Joy of Gay Sex, published by Perennial in August 1993, co-authored by Felice Picano, and The Joy of Gay Sex, fully revised and expanded third edition, published by William Morrow in January 2006, co-authored by Picano.