Jack Donovan - Blood-Brotherhood and Other Rites of Male Alliance

Jack Donovan co-authored Blood-Brotherhood and Other Rites of Male Alliance with Nathan F. Miller in 2009. ISBN 978-0-578-03070-8 Blood-Brotherhood argues that men have used blood brotherhood rites and similar pacts to solemnize alliances and friendships throughout history. Donovan and Miller present examples from many cultures, suggesting that men could use the book as a "toolbox for the imagination" in modern rites of friendship between and among men. While the book does not claim that blood-brotherhood is a gay male phenomenon, Donovan and Miller propose that the idea of forming blood brotherhoods could be adapted as a substitute for more heteronormative same-sex marriage ceremonies. Reviewer John Safran, writing for Vice, expressed concern that the medical dangers of blood mixing in the modern era were not thoroughly or responsibly handled in the book.