This book is a soft-cover collection of superb photographs in B&W. It is large, some 12"x9", giving plenty of space for large detailed prints.

It's difficult to find words enough to praise this collection of Roffman's work. His models are simply magical (well all but one!), and their sensitivity, shyness and youth simply flood from the page to your eye and then to your brain.

I suspect that many guys will simply absorb themselves in the pictures and wish they could dive in and hug many of these boys - and boys most of them are. No hardened, pumped-up, muscle-Marys here; simply a collection of great boy-next-door types.

Tha accompanying text gives context to the models and the photographs; Roffman says that he loves Brian, the first profile portrait we see. Well, so do I! He just too perfect and is, for me, the very best of what is a superb collection of pretty boys.

Highly recommended for its soul, its insight, its quality, and for its presentation of first-class eye candy.

Tales is a powerful book both in words and pictures in which Roffman sensuously catures twelve of the most beautiful young men in the world. By telling us his realtionship with each Roffman then completes the story in his photography allowing us not only to see these boys' outside beauty but also that which lies within. A masterpiece.

Howard Roffman relates his encounters with his models through his pictures. The viewer senses the affection between Roffman and his models. Romantically and in a world of dreams, he allows us a glimpse of this world and puts us all under his spell.

This is Howard Roffman's eighth book, and a beautiful display of youth it is! All 176 pages of this book showcase seven young men who are on the verge of adulthood in natural settings in and out of doors. What is intriguing about these photos is the playfulness of these very young, handsome men, who are naturally photogenic as they get naked and have fun in bed, in the woods, and in the bath. These images will someday be a beautiful history and reminder to these young men of the time when they were at perfection in their youthful beauty. Roffman knew two of these young men who introduced him to others, who were friends and some of them lovers. Roffman is a wonderful photographer and each book he publishes seems to get better and bigger. He certainly knows how to capture and freeze the beauty of youth, and his fans are thrilled that he does. This book should be in every serious collector's library. Touching and Tender, and beautifully designed!

Joe Hanssen

Friends & Lovers is a major new work from acclaimed photographer Howard Roffman. Friends & Lovers is Roffman's 8th photo book and at 176 pages is the largest book ever published by Bruno Gmünder.
With his signature photo-narrative style, Roffman documents the real-life relationships of 7 attractive young men in the transition between the innocence of youth and a more worldly perspective of adulthood.
The book chronicles Roffman's own journey as much as it chronicles that of the 7 young men. The journey began for Roffman in 1999 with a chance encounter between himself and a young man named Jeremy. The encounter began a sequence of introductions as each model brought a new member to the group. Inspired by the strong bonds and passionate relationships within the group, Roffman photographed these young men over a three-year period, culminating in the book.
Friends and Lovers goes far beyond Romanesque posed images of muscled men and instead creates a world of real characters not afraid to expose their true relationships or give us insights into their most intimate moments. Commenting on the book, noted photographer Tom Bianchi has stated, "Older gay men might wish that they had this kind of erotic and playful start on their romantic life journeys. Roffman's book celebrates the fact that this kind of youth . . . is real for those who choose it now. He captures many elegant tender moments that suggest that this is always how we should have been."

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Roffman scores again with this book. His early style still captures the beauty, poignancy, and fun of the three young men he photographs for this book.

There is some explanatory text but this is just a tad saccharine in it's sentimentality. The photographs are stunning, and that is what is truly important, so you can afford to ignore the text if you wish. He's even made some of the grins seem enticing. The more thoughtful photographs are truly erotic.

This is not a wank mag - it's softback and the spine isn't too strong, even if your's is. It is, however, a strongly recommended example of young men at one with each other ad the photographer.

I enjoyed looking at Howard Roffman's photographs in THREE. I've often wondered whether threesomes actually work--apparently so (I wonder whether the guys are still together?).

Roffman documents three men/lover's lives. The photographs are visually pleasing and very erotic. This is a unique collection that certainly merits review. Roffman's photographs captures the male form in various stages of passion, as well as in mundane moments; each definitely tells a story of the men and leaves the viewer to conjure up stories to fill in the narrative blanks (no pun intended).

I highly recommend THREE. It's a wonderful coffeetable book...:)

Starring in Howard Roffman's photo book "Three" are three young men: John, Gary and Kris. They live together in a quite unconventional relationship in London. Roffman's photos show scenes from their everyday life - tender moments and even sexually heated situations. But Roffman's models do not remain "just models". With each picture the three protagonists get more and more lively. And each of them tells his own life story.

Howard Roffman is a fine photographer as proved to many, including me, in two of his previous collections, TALES and THREE.

PICTURES OF FRED has, first-rate, candid and more formal portraits of this very young, handsome, French model and gymnast. However, the accompanying text is so precious that it becomes annoying, esp. with several "typos" in only two pages of text. And since this descriptive essay is very brief, appearing at the beginning of the volume with portions reproduced in various other sections of the book, I wondered why it was even included. Why not have a writer as good as Roffman is a photographer write the text and make it much less manipulative? Some of the phrases are actually as melodramatic as the kind found in paperback, romance novels (i.e. "One night I found Fred alone. He seemed sad, withdrawn...The conversation shook me. Fred had kept his wisdom hidden...By the time the sun set, we were both drained. We collapsed on his couch, and he fell asleep in my lap, naked, vulnerable.")

If a picture is worth a thousand words, I'd like some more pictures and alot fewer words, please.

How does Roffman manage to capture so much of his subject's soul in his photographs? That he does so capture it is eveident in this wonderfully rich collection of B&W images.

There are a combination of formally posed and more naturally posed photos, and all seem to connect the reader to the model's core. I feel that B&W is the best medium to capture this aspect of erotic photography as you are not distracted by colour.

Fred, a French gymnast and model, is beautiful. He seems at times both carefree and self-aware. Roffman captures the spark of youth.

You really MUST buy this book; you'lle be pleased that you did.

Howard Roffman captures both the striking beauty of a man and that man's youthful nature. Fred can be seen in a variety of situations, from playing with his dog to being physically excited in a shower. One also sees Fred's compassionate side as he embraces a friend. The lighting is magnificent, accentuating Fred's features. I recommend this book to all those who seek high-quality male photography.

Great picture book. Young, good-looking, but not over developed bodies. Well worth the money.

I've got to cast a special vote for the first guy in the book, the one from Austin, Texas. Sheer perfection.

My favorite photos in this book are the ones where they smile. How wonderful it is! A lot of models have forgotten just how heart-warming and sexy a genuine smile is.

This book is definitely a keeper!

Jagged Youth - the book - is an excellent study of beautiful, almost pretty young men. The pictures are superbly clear with interesting plays of light that accentuate. The boys are sometimes playful, sometimes moody, some posed and others not. Most are in various stages of undress, suggestive of promises of passion. The nudes, while not pornographic, are very sensual, exuding raw sexuality. Putting the fanciful descriptions aside, these boys are some hot numbers that no-one would kick out of bed no matter what your preferences may be. Mere words fail to do them justice. You must experience this book to appreciate the lust that it conjures up!

There's not very much you can say about this beautiful book of photographs, it speaks for itself. If you enjoyed Kris's images in Roffman's book "Three", you will love this tribute to him and glimpse we get into Kris's life. These very intimate pictures show Kris over a period of three years, as he matures from a rather shy young man to the handsome, confident, young man he is now. This blond Adonis has the ability to hold anyone's gaze just by being himself and displaying his natural good-looks, and eroticism. Only a talented photographer like Roffman could bring the natural beauty of this youth to these 80 pages of black and white photos in such a sensitive way. Roffman is the author of six best selling books of photographs, and this is one of his best! This book of nude-images will be a lasting addition to any collector's library! Enjoy.

Joe Hanssen

I like Roffman's work. I like his models and his style.

Pictures of Kris, "with the highly tuned intimacy for which Roffman's pictures are known, gives us a glimpse into Kris's life over a period of three years. Kris, one of the Three from Roffman's collection of pictures of the same name, matures from a rather shy youth to a confident young man, whose clear gaze and natural eroticism have already bewitched many an observer".

His previous book of Johan Paulik was slightly better than this, perhaps because it contained solo photographs but nonetheless, Pictures of Kris is a worthy addition to your coffee table or bookshelf. (And let's face it, if you're not into muscle-men, you're not likely to turn this young man from your front door on a cold and wet spring evening).

Chronicling three years of a young man's life in photographic images, Howard Roffman's "Pictures of Kris" is a remarkably achievement in male erotic photography. Kris will be familiar to many Roffman fans as one of the beautiful young men who appeared in his previous photo book "Three."

It is easy to see why Roffman chose Kris as the sole subject of an entire oeuvre. He is captivating, with his warm smile, his obvious physical attributes, and his tremendous lack of self-consciousness when being photographed. But there is more of Kris that also is evident in these pictures - a strong personality, the presence of intelligence, and certainly a lot of heart seem to define this young man.

Done in entirely black and white photography (Roffman is a true master of the art), this book contains a few images of the subjects of "Three" that were previously unpublished, plus some that were shot more recently in South Africa. The passage of time in Kris's life is evident by the changes in his face and body (and hairstyles), and in a certain confidence he exudes in the later shots that comes only from a certain level of emotional maturity. In all of them, Kris has a certain natural sexual heat that permeates the work.

As for Roffman's work in general, it continues to be amazingly, starkly intimate - particularly when he focuses his lens on subjects he knows well personally, as in this case. The finest shots in this collection, for me, are the ones that show Kris unabashedly romping on a beach with his dog, wearing only a tattered New Mexico State Aggies T-shirt. Both the T-shirt and the dog (as a puppy) appear in some of the earlier photographs, giving a sense of history and continuity to the collection.

I don't like it.I hate those vulgar expressions on the porn star's face. On the other hand, I don't think he is now beautiful at all. He looks much worse than 5~6 years ago.

Many people have seen Johan Paulik in the bel AMi sex-action films, and have lusted after this beautiful and almost real youth. Hoffman has managed to capture all of Johan's appeal in this masterful collection of B&W images. From the outdoor shots to the casual indoor poses, these pictures ooze charm, sex-appeal, and wit.

The comments by Paulik (in the foreword) that he feels that he is not as attractive at 25 as he was at 18 frankly cause wonder. has he looked Roffman's pictures? Can he be so unconfident about his body? Surely, he is more rounded than he was at 18. Who isn't? That being said, his 'rounded' form makes him all the more attainable, as he looks even more like the boy-next-door, even if he is much more beautiful. I for one find him much more erotic and sexy than when he was 18! I showed this book to a friend of mine, a married woman, who looked through the images, paused for breath and then said, "What an outstandingly beautiful man!" That says it all.

A great book.

If you're after gratuitous pictures of Johan, go download them with everyone else off the internet. You won't find them here. Oh, you'll find nudity, but only where it seems natural.

Roffman has perfectly capture the essense of Johan, I have never seen so much character and personality emerge from a page before. Johan relaxes before the camera, and you are rewarded with intimate glimpses into his personality. This is Johan at his cheekiest. As you flick through the pages and pause at images of him relaxing with Roffman's two dogs, you feel like just another friend there with him, as you laugh over breakfast or come to wake him in the morning.

This is Johan the man, Johan the boy, Johan the friend and Johan the lover, all in the pages of one book. If you ever saw him in a Bel Ami production and wished you could get to know him, then get this book, because it's as close as you'll get.

Yet another book filled with black & white photos of very pretty - handsome seems inappropriate - young men. These are not traditional studio shots. Almost all are outdoor scenes of late teens/early twenties, mostly white boys looking bored. There is little frontal nudity, however, a few of photos are provacative. These photos appear to lack artistic pretension, instead they come across as very nice snapshots. These photos did not instill any sense of desire. Edginess was totally lacking in the consistant blandness of these photos. Although I enjoyed the book, I felt that it failed to meet the titled aspiration. I expected more.

I have many books of Howard Roffman, but the Edge of Desire, I find the most beautiful, sweetest, sexiest of all.
It includes some of his 'Three' photosserie and some clair-obscur photographs of boys and man next door. All photographs in duotone print (black&white). Short afterword in English/French and German.
Really the price worth paying! If you leave it on a table, all your friends will certainly take a quick peek at them, whether they are gay or straight.

Anyone who know Howard Roffman's photography knows he has done many wonderful books of Male Nude Photography. This new postcard book #27 featuring Johan Paulik, one of Bel Ami most admired models, is a welcome edition that was issued about the same time as the new hardcover book featuring Johan Paulik by Howard Roffman. There are 29 postcards featuring black & white photos of Johan by himself that are shot mostly indoors. This is a Johan that is a little more mature & older, but still very attractive, cute, and innocent looking. These are wonderful postcards to enjoy yourself, or to send to your friends, etc. Highly Recommended!