The Boy Who Brought Down A Bathhouse

By Rolyn Chambers

A tell-all unlike any has been unleashed. The Boy Who Brought Down A Bathhouse, the first book by notorious gossip columnist Rolyn Chambers, who toiled as the last manager of infamous gay bathhouse St. Marc Spa, is sure to get everyone’s juices flowing.

Chronicling the final two-and-a- half years of one of Toronto’s largest and most troubled bathhouses, the true tales of the men who worked and played in this environment created exclusively for casual sex are combined with the author’s difficult journey maintaining a monogamous relationship. Exploring various interactions that were created within this unique sub-section of society, the book exposes the innocence and guilt of the men who frequent it. In a valiant attempt to reinvent its image, Chambers and the bathhouse owners created the country’s first licensed stand-alone entertainment space (inspired by New York’s legendary Continental Baths), which led to some of the most unusual events to take place in a bathhouse.

Through 32 chapters of text and pictures, you will get an inside look into; the first ever bathhouse party exclusively for gay, lesbian and trans post-secondary students, the unique rooms redesigned by some of the city’s most celebrated gay icons, the drag shows, the lesbian bathhouse night, the live sex shows and of course the international gay adult film star nights featuring some of the biggest names in the business including Michael Lucas, Johnny Hazzard, Brent Everett, Blake Riley, Matthew Rush, Samuel Colt, Tyler Saint, Buck Angel and Big Brother star Steven Daigle.

Those familiar and new to the world behind these guarded gates will be privy to how it not only affected the author but, to an extent, the world at large. Take the in-the-closet cheating husband whose wife showed up to confront him, with their young son in tow, the member of Russia’s Bolshoi Ballet who broke up with his boyfriend and skipped his performances to cry in his room, the death of Olympic medalist Mark Leduc who was found unconscious in the steam room, or the ongoing drug problems of drugs that affected the business and the city’s gay community. Grab a towel, your adventure awaits.