Reviews (2)

Excellent writing!

a pioneering book
This book was made in the mid-80s.On the one hand, it feels a little dated, but on the other, the reader can tell how much it has thoroughly influenced many of the anthologies of lesbian and gay writing of color to come after it.This book is a smorgasbord of poems, essays, diary entries, and other writings from Latina lesbians.It has some cheesy, Cocteau-influenced pencil drawings too, which I won't bother to discuss.In the style of Anzaldua and Moraga, this is another book which celebrates bilingualism and has essays in English and Spanish, without translations, by the way.However, unlike the two previously mentioned Latina lesbian authors, there is little "Spanglish" here.Unlike Latino collections, that focus upon Mexican-Americans, this book has a healthy selection of writings from Puerto Ricans, especially Black Puerto Ricans.I'm sure this is due to the New York residence of the editor, but I was loving it regardless of its reasons.Also, this is one of the few Latino anthologies which includes writings from Brazilian-Americans.Unlike so much lesbian writing where the narrator is always the blameless heroine, the authors here lead real lives:they make mistakes and write about stuff that could make many readers uncomfortable.Unfortunately, there are many essays that say little about race and also many that say little about sexuality.In this book, women are much more likely to say they are lesbians who have had sex with men than to identify as bisexual and this may rub some bisexual readers the wrong way.Whereas the writers had much to say about sexism of men and homophobia in communities of color, they said little about racism in the gay community and I tend to think this was done purposely because the authors may want to encourage a large white lesbian readership.Many of the authors only use their first names; this type of anonymity would be seen as closet-y and shocking nowadays.Still, even today, there is not enough Latina lesbian writing out there.So this is a precious, early effort at filling the void.I did enjoy reading this book, even as it sometimes felt rough around the edges. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American - General    2. American literature    3. General    4. Hispanic American authors    5. Hispanic American lesbians    6. Lesbians    7. Literary collections    8. Sociology    9. Central America    10. Collections & anthologies of various literary forms    11. Ethnic studies    12. History of art & design styles: from c 1900 -    13. Lesbian studies    14. South America   

Reviews (3)

Okay, but there's still Unanswered Questions
When I first heard the title of Nadine Hubbs new book, I remarked to a friend, well, there's one less book I'll have to write.Which is another way of saying, issues about gay American composers, and music and gender in general, interest me (professionally and personally).On some levels, Hubbs is on the right track: noting how the definition of an "American sound" in music (basically, French-influenced neo-classicism) was largely constructed by a group of gay men who formed a closely-knit group of individuals.She also correctly focuses on Copland and Thomson at the hub of this circle of mutual influence.There are some nice tidbits of info here, involving people like Marc Blitzstein and Paul Bowles, and it's clear that Hubbs has done her homework, in referencing gay historians like George Chauncey and musicologists like Philip Brett.
Hubbs gets it.
Nadine Hubbs' The Queer Composition of America's Sound marks a milestone in queer studies, musicology and American historiography.She details the relationship between self-consciously queer composers and the mid-twentieth century "American sound" with insight, compassion and finesse.
Queer as folk, queer as classical
"The Queer Composition of America's Sound", a new contribution by Nadine Hubbs, tackles a subject which is as fascinating in concept as it is mystifying in content. How is it that the premiere American composers of the twentieth century happened to be identified as gay and to what end has that influenced their compositions?
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Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Composers & Musicians - General    3. Gay Studies    4. General    5. History & Criticism - General    6. History and criticism    7. Instruction & Study - Composition    8. Modernism (Music)    9. Music    10. Music/Songbooks    11. National music    12. United States    13. Music / General    14. USA   

Subjects:  1. Cinema/Film: Book    2. Film & Video - History & Criticism    3. Gay Studies    4. Performing Arts    5. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    6. Semiotics & Theory    7. Social aspects    8. United States    9. American Studies    10. Cultural studies    11. Gay & Lesbian Studies/Queer Th    12. Gay & Lesbian studies    13. PERFORMANCE STUDIES/THEATER    14. USA   

Editorial Review

From the moment of his birth aboard a train speeding through Stalinist Russia, until his death of AIDS in 1993, Rudolf Nureyev seemed to travel through life at the velocity of a triple pirouette. His professional accomplishments are stunning. Despite starting his ballet training much later most dancers, Nureyev won a coveted spot at the famous Maryinsky (later the Kirov) ballet school in St. Petersburg and went on to become one of the company's favorite dancers. By the end of his first year in the West--in 1961 he became the first Soviet dancer to defect when he stayed in Paris after the rest of the Kirov returned to the U.S.S.R--he had performed with the major ballet companies in both Europe and the United States, and formed his legendary partnership with British dancer Dame Margot Fonteyn. He reinvigorated contemporary ballet, particularly the importance of male dancers, by energizing his favorite traditional roles with unrestrained sexuality and unparalleled technical virtuosity. His personal life was equally full. He carried on affairs with men and women alike--most notable among these was his intense, decades-long involvement with his professional idol Erik Bruhn and his penchant for sexy young call-boys. He hung out at Studio 54 and crisscrossed the Atlantic with his socialite friends, but he also made time to mentor talented young dancers, including Paris Opera Ballet star Sylvie Guillem.Read more

Reviews (5)

In fairness, a moderate success.......
With all the good reviews this work is receiving here, I feel that I must point out some of its short-comings.While the information in the book is exhaustive (sometimes to the point of seeming pretentious, as when Solwayspends a footnote to provide the married name of an informant after havingused her maiden name on the same page--why not just use the establishedconvention of writing first, maiden, and last names?), the obvious researchseems often tenuous.Solway's sources are frequently not identified; shewrites numerous quotations without noting speakers' or informants' names.Are they Nureyev's words?Did one of his friends or family members saythem?Did Solway invent them?How is one to know?How is one to creditthe accuracy of a statement at all without the author's establishing of thesource's credibility? Gripping, fascinating story of the man who changed ballet.
Diane Solway has researched and written an altogether fascinating biography of Rudolf Nureyev, the dancer who changed classical ballet in the 20th century.He was born to a impoverished family in Russia anduntimately died on his private island purchased with the millions he madeduring his dance career--a true-life rags-to-riches story.But it is somuch more... the most detailed account of Nureyev's life
Compared to all the previous books about Rudolf Nureyev, Diane Solaway's "Nureyev: His Life" stands out as the most detailed, most researched and most complete account of the ballet dancer's life. Those whoare interested in Russian culture, Tatar history, ballet, lives of gaycelebrities, lifestyles of the rich and famous, etc. will find this booktotally fascinating. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1938-1993    2. Ballet    3. Ballet dancers    4. Biography    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. Biography/Autobiography    8. Entertainment & Performing Arts - Dancers    9. Entertainment & Performing Arts - General    10. Historical - General    11. Nureyev, Rudolf    12. Nureyev, Rudolf,    13. Russia (Federation)    14. Specific Groups - Male Gay Studies   

Editorial Review

E.J. Graff had a very personal reason for asking the question in this book's title: she was married in 1991, but in a ceremony legitimized by neither church nor state. Graff and her dearly beloved, you see, are lesbians. But instead of being dominated by agenda, Read more

Reviews (14)

Interesting Book that Opened My Eyes
A very interesting book about the history of marriage and what this history suggests for the arguments surrounding gay marriage.It really opened my eyes up that what some call "traditional" marriage is hardly traditional at all in the context of human history where "marriage" took a variety of forms.

Well done and extremely informative
The historical overview Graff provides covers not only the institution of marriage itself, but also the wide spectrum of gender roles that have been standard in past Western culture.(For example, the idea that the wife should stay at home didn't occur to anyone until Victorian times brought along industry and 14-hour factory jobs!)
A Disappointing Tract for Same-sex Marriage
What I expected was a well researched history of marriage laden with colorful commentary, humorous ironies, and insightful analysis.What I discovered is a heavy-handed argument for gay and lesbian marriage that is tedious to slog through.
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Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. Homosexuality    3. Love / Sex / Marriage    4. Marriage    5. Same-sex marriage    6. Social History    7. Social Science    8. Sociology    9. Sociology - Marriage & Family    10. Social Science / Gay Studies   

Subjects:  1. England    2. Gay & Lesbian    3. History    4. Homosexuality in literature    5. Human Sexuality    6. Literary Criticism    7. Medieval    8. Psychology    9. Sex    10. Sex in literature    11. To 1500   

Editorial Review

Marjorie Garber (Read more

Reviews (2)

Life's more fun as a man than a nun
Celebrated in Spanish legends and folklore as the marvelous Lieutenant Nun, Catalina de Erauso was born to a prosperous Basque family in 1585 and sent to a convent at age 4. Destined to become a nun, there she remained until age 15. Days before she was to take her final vows, she escaped, taking only needle, thread, scissors and a few coins. A Different Conquistador
Catalina de Erauso grew up in a Basque convent, but spent most of her days as a soldier in the Spanish army in the mid-1600s.This brief autobiography is not a typical tale of military exploits.Althoughbrawling constitutes much of the action, this is the story of a femaletransvestite.De Erauso dressed as a man to escape from her convent in1599.Keeping up the disguise for reasons that included an attraction to"pretty faces," she traveled to the Americas in 1603 and foughtin the conquest of Chile.When finally forced to reveal her true sex, deErauso attained brief celebrity in the Baroque world.In 1624, the popegranted her permission to continue her life garbed in male attire.Aforword and an excellent introduction by the translators places thisfascinating story in historical context. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Erauso, Catalina de,    5. Gay Studies    6. Latin America    7. Spain    8. Spain And Portugal - History    9. Women    10. b. ca. 1592    11. Erauso, Catalina de   

Reviews (9)

Excellent work and exemplarly scholarship
Crompton's work, "Homosexuality and Civilization," is a monumental piece of history and contrary to the popular bromide of Boswell and Foucault, represents real, cogent scholarship.Crompton offers an even-handed and exhaustive review of the history of homosexuality from early civilization, to the close of the Enlightenment.I strongly suggest for readers interested in gay and lesbian history, who are searching for an introductory overview thereof, this title.It offers a far more realistic and defensible interpretation of homosexuality throughout history than one is likely to find in the confused and fallacious works of other prominent workers (e.g., the aforementioned Boswell and Foucault).
GAY HISTORY RECLAIMED: THE KEY SURVEY
Crompton's "Homosexuality and Civilization" seems destined to become the definitive one-volume history of same-sex relations--and it comes at a critical period. Essential to the suppression of gay people in the West was the denial that they contributed positively to history; that history came very close to being effaced altogether. Just as the first gay historians after Stonewall began to reclaim that history, gay French philosopher Michel Foucault mischievously denied that homosexuality existed at all before the term was coined in the 1890s. This academic fashion caused many to refuse to consider fascinating new same-sex testimony from the past just as it appeared--a skepticism heteros would never dream of applying to their own sexual history. Crompton is post-theory, post-faction: instead of denying gay men had a history, he says, just read the first-person accounts from different times and places and respect what they plainly say. He does just that in this elegant, readable journey through Christian, Islamic, and Asian same-sex history.
An Outstanding Humanistic Survey
Louis Crompton has written a magisterial, eloquent, and exhaustive history of gay and lesbian history in his 2003 book, "Homosexuality and Civilization." The book traces the history of attitudes towards gay men and women from antiquity to the Enlightenment (its only shortcoming was the lack of anything past the nineteenth century). This book is a real toud d'force, covering literature, philosophy, history, and artefacts throughout the ages. Crompton is at complete odds with Boswell's two tomes on homosexuality, clearly laying the blame for most homophobia on the doorsteps of Christianity. Not until Augustine of Hippo, Clement of Alexandria, and John Chrysostom does homosexuality become a perversion that is meeted with some harsh, even lethal, opposition -- all because of the Story of Sodom and Gommorah, which ironically has nothing to do with homosexuality, but which the early Church Fathers decided was the lynchpin of God's wrath toward the unrighteous homosexual -- indeed, not just the homosexual, but any society that countenanced it. The Catholic Inquisition was matched only by the Protestant Reformation in its zeal to liquidate any form of same-sex love by a misreading of the Sodom story, and by a single verse from Leviticus -- a Code which most Christians reject or ignore categorically, yet from a single verse comes some of the most perverse reprisals against the gay community.
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Subjects:  1. Christianity - General    2. Gay Studies    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Lesbian Studies    7. Sociology    8. World - General    9. Gay & Lesbian studies    10. History / World    11. Social history   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (10)

Interesting Concept, Awkwardly Executed
If this were just a book of "photographs of men together" without the heavy-handed, ponderous stretches of the author's awkward, long-winded prose between photos, it would be an enormous improvement.Deitcher's text reads like a proposal for selling the book to a publisher - I lost count how many times he states things like, "this book is..." and then describes the book you are holding in your hand.
Dear Friends: American Photographs of Men Together, 1840-1918
An excellent gift for a gay male friend.

Words worth of pictures
Alas - I wish I could have given this book a top mark, but it is not to be. What kept me from doing so were not the pictures, but the limply connotating articles that accompany them. In this day and age of multiple choice selections the author may be forgiven to think that readers (or viewers alike) would be unable to detect what matters in the details of an image. Read more

Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. Gay couples    3. Gay male couples    4. Gay men    5. History    6. Men's Studies - General    7. Photo Essays    8. Photoessays & Documentaries    9. Photography    10. Photojournalism    11. Portrait photography    12. Portraits    13. Subjects & Themes - Portraits    14. United States    15. Men's studies    16. Photographs: portraits    17. USA   

Reviews (1)

Encyclopedia of the lavender screen
This engaging encyclopedia contains over 160 entries and includes notable actors, actresses, screenwriters, directors, comedians and more (both living and dead), as well as specialized topics. Entries on individuals cover a page or two while broader subjects (like "American Television - Dramas and "British Television") are much lengthier. Contributors include professors, scholars, writers and critics in the field. For the most part, entries are thorough, covering a person's career and accomplishments as well as illuminating their private life and what part, if any, their sexuality had on their professional lives. Some subjects are more revealing than others. For example, entries on Agnes Moorehead and Cary Grant, two examples of famous "were they or were they not?," don't really include any new information, aside from gossip, and the basis for their inclusion is questionable. On the other hand, recently deceased contemporary subjects, who never publicly came out, like Roddy McDowell, James Ivory and Ismail Merchant, are included. Famous bi-sexuals (like Tallulah Bankhead, Errol Flynn, Brad David and Margaret Cho) are included. A notable highlight of the book is the inclusion of contemporary actors, like Dan Butler, Alan Cumming and Lily Tomlin. There are so notable omissions (like Leslie Jordan, Sara Gilbert and David Hyde Pierce), but the editor states that the book is not meant to be comprehensive and the lack of information on certain individuals is often the reason for their absence. Hopefully, this is a reference work that will be revised in years to come. It is a helpful and informative source. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Cinema/Film: Book    3. Dictionaries    4. Film & Video - History & Criticism    5. Film & Video - Reference    6. Film Criticism    7. Gay Studies    8. Gays    9. Gays in the performing arts    10. Gender Studies    11. Performing Arts    12. Popular Culture - General    13. Television (Performing Arts)    14. Gay & Lesbian studies    15. Social Science / Gay Studies   

Subjects:  1. Christianity    2. Christianity - Theology - General    3. Gays    4. General    5. Homosexuality    6. Liberation theology    7. Religion    8. Religion - Church History    9. Religious aspects    10. Religious life    11. Christian social thought & activity    12. Gay & Lesbian studies   

Reviews (23)

Claptrap, to be polite. Lies and bigotry, to be truthful.
I have a gay brother and sister, and they are exactly the same people now they were as small children -- except they've grown up to become a doctor and a respected business executive, each still with a partner they met over 30 years ago.
Don't be misled by the negative reviews
Contrary to the rhetoric of some of the reviewers -- especially those giving the book one star and accusing the author of perpetuating lies -- this book is well-argued, clearly-written, and carefully-documented. I would urge everyone interested in this important subject to read this book with an open mind, rather than prejudging either its contents or the motivation of the author. Of special interest is the section drawing attention to the often deleterious effects of same-sex unions on the children raised in those homes, as expressed by those very children. Even proponents of same-sex unions should investigate the accuracy and commonality of those claims. And the quotes from African American leaders who are offended by the equation of gay rights with the civil rights movement should not be ignored.
PROTECTING.......
Dear God when will people like this learn the difference between democracy and religious intolerence of "the other".Marriage has never and will never be under attack as the blatantly propagandistic tome claims.All the so-called facts have been so twisted by his Hijacked form of Christianity cum journalism that only a moron would believe it and herald it as a champion of democracy. Read more

Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. History & Theory - General    3. Homosexuality    4. Marriage    5. Political Ideologies - Conservatism & Liberalism    6. Politics / Current Events    7. Same-sex marriage    8. Social Science    9. Sociology    10. Sociology - Marriage & Family    11. United States    12. Gay & Lesbian studies    13. Gay studies (Gay men)    14. Marriage, family & other relationships    15. Political Science / General   

Reviews (3)

Boring history, confusing descriptions, good footnotes
This is basically a textbook, written by an academician, and the poor fella has amassed plenty of data, but how about a logical narrative format? Needed stories
With this landmark study, James T. Sears provides not only an important document of hidden American history but also an entertaining and sometimes disturbing narrative of struggles for freedom and equality. Sadly, though, he sees the same racism and sexism inside gay communities that he saw working against those very communities. While women in general kept fighting to dress as they like, work where they like, and express themselves openly, gay women faced a male-dominated gay movement. While encountering bigotry against their race and closets within their race, gays of color found gay bars and gay organizations just as unfriendly towards them. Gay Southern History by Those Who Lived It
As one of the 1970's activists featured in Jim Sears's book, I am naturally biased.But as a student of lesbian and gay history, I enjoyed and appreciated his take on lesbian and gay life in the South in the decade between Stonewall and AIDS.Like Barbara Tuchman's "Stilwell" and "A Distant Mirror", Sears combines biography and history, which directs the narrative and makes it more interesting to the average reader.People like Jack Nichols, Lige Clarke and Merrill Mushroom, who appeared in Sears's previous book "Lonely Hunters", join newcomers like Logan Carter, Pokey Anderson, Leonard Matlovich and "Miss P" to create a diverse tapestry that was (and is) the LesBiGay South. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Gay Studies    3. Gay men    4. Gender Studies    5. History    6. Lesbian Studies    7. Lesbians    8. Social Science    9. Sociology    10. Southern States    11. United States - 20th Century    12. Gay & Lesbian studies    13. Social history    14. Southeastern & South Atlantic states    15. USA   

Subjects:  1. 16th century    2. 17th century    3. Early modern, 1500-1700    4. England    5. English literature    6. Gender Studies    7. History    8. History and criticism    9. Lesbian Studies    10. Lesbianism    11. Social Science    12. Sociology    13. English    14. Gay & Lesbian studies    15. Lesbianism--England--History--16th century    16. Literary studies: 16th to 18th centuries    17. Social Science / Gender Studies   

Editorial Review

They are half-human horrors, strange and scary aliens, theseemingly-normal-but-deadly danger that lurks around the corner: Hollywood monsters, or homosexuals? Horror fictionhas always portrayed society's greatest fears as monstrous incarnations of "the other," so it should be no surprise that there has always been a clear homoerotic subtext in horror films--from Read more

Reviews (10)

It will change how you watch movies
This is an excellent book and the only full volume on the subject.Horror reveals our collective cultural fears, things we find threatening even if we cannot explain why, things we consciously or unconsciously identify as "Other."Much has been written about how horror films illustrate fears concerning race and gender, but our culture's obvious prejudices toward queer (non-hetero) sexuality and their representation in the genre have never been this directly and thoroughly addressed.
Like a good conversation,
the author keeps you interested, and mixes just the right amount of humor into the work.Unfortunately, pre-60s horror movies, he seldom backs up his arguments, instead claiming something to be obviously homosexual and then describing the plot.While I admit, it is very easy to interpret some of these works as homosexual, and I know it would be difficult to find much evidence outside a James Whale movie, he relys primarily on circumstantial evidence to defend himself.(References and evidence are two different things.)Throughout the work, he makes interesting points which are well thought out, I'm glad I purchased it...but as it is, the book doesn't amount to more than a great conversation with somebody.

A WORK OF GENIUS!!!
This is the book that explains that CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON is really about homosexuality because...well you see the Gill Man'shead is really a phallus. Got It?? And even though the Creature pursues Julie Adams thoughout the picture, he is REALLY interested in Richard Carlson, Richard Denning and the rest of the male crew which is why he keeps attacking them. Got it?? Adams is just a beard.Even though the Gill Man goes after Adams again and again, he is only trying to lure those men in the bathing suits to his lair so he can have his way with them.
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Subjects:  1. Cinema/Film: Book    2. Film & Video - History & Criticism    3. Film - History & Criticism    4. Gay Studies    5. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    6. Performing Arts / Film / General   

Subjects:  1. 1883-1956    2. 20th century    3. Art    4. Avant garde (Aesthetics)    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Feminism and art    7. France    8. General    9. History    10. Individual Artist    11. Laurencin, Marie,    12. Lesbian artists    13. Psychology    14. Biography: general    15. History of art & design styles: from c 1900 -    16. Individual artists    17. Laurencin, Marie   

Reviews (1)

Vey Informative Research about H.D.
I read this book as part of a graduate project on H.D. It was very informative about the nature of H.D.'s poetry, especially as it concerns encoded language. The comparisons drawn between Sappho's writing and H.D.'s poems show a linear connection between the poets in their subjects, speech and rhythms. H.D.'s images can be understood as a continuation of an ongoing