Despite some sharp witty prose, Burston only manages to capture a narrow part of metropolitan gay culture where male escorts, coke and club DJs are considered more important and sexy than anything else.
Nevertheless there are some wonderfully constructed characters which anyone who visits the Fridge, Crash, Trade or the Vauxhall Tavern will immediately recognise.
Reminiscent of 'Queer as Folk' with its fast paced humour, 'Shameless' is the perfect light mindless read for the beach at Sitges or Mykonos this summer. Martin Flynn
'Shameless' by Paul Burston is published in paperback by Abacus, price £6.99.

Sponsored by Benetton and edited by maverick designer Tibor Kalman, Colors brought a radical new style to magazines when it burst on the international scene as "the magazine about the rest

of the world" in 1979. It dealt with the visual style of politics, racism,

pollution, cultural preoccupations, consumerism and, of course, Aids. Under Tibor Kalman's editorial direction for the first six years, it set a new bold standard of design. The world itself was being advertised: on display in vivid colours and shocking imagery. Each issue dealt with one subject, like: 'What is eating?', 'What is sex?' 'What is agression?' Visual essays that challenged the world.
Colors: the first six years. Thames & Hudson, £18.95 ppbk orig;

ISBN: 0 500 283680.