Subjects:  1. Catholic Church    2. Christianity - Catholicism    3. Church work with gays    4. Gays    5. Homosexuality    6. Religion    7. Religion - Classic Works    8. Religion - Roman Catholic    9. Religious aspects    10. Religious life    11. Christian theology    12. Gay & Lesbian studies    13. History of religion    14. Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholic Church    15. Social history   

Reviews (3)

But How "Visible" Are We?
There is no doubt that Larry Gross is a top scholar in the field of Gay Media Studies.Having just completed my own thesis and graduate work in the area, I found this work by Gross priceless because he makes the material readable, enjoyable and understandable for anyone.Looking at Gay representation in Mass Media from a variety of different perspectives, Television, Print Media, Film and briefly touching on gay visibility on the Internet. It is amazing that although I have been studying this material for 6+ years, Gross brought new insightful information to me on the material that I haven't heard or read before.This is must read and worthy personal library addition to anyone interested in Gay Studies.When we realize how far we have come, Gross is quick to remind us how far we have to go.

Engrossing but biased
This book is a fascinating, well-written survey on how the LGTB community has been treated (or not)in the media in recent decades. While by no means comprehensive, the wealth of material covered will certainly satisfy (if not aptly enrage)the average reader. The main problem with the book is that the material presented enrages the author himself too much. While the material covered is ostensibly presented as dispassionate reporting, the author's footnotes and editorial asides intrude too much in leading the reader into what he/she is supposed to think. Lest we miss yet another insult to basic human rights or cowardice on the part of the powers that be, these points are repeatedly underlined. So what appeared as a sociologic survey transforms into a book of personal essays. This is unfortunate because it is easy to be convinced of the authorial point of view if the facts are allowed to speak for themselves. Nonetheless worthwhile reading if not the book it hopes to be.

A nice beginning
If you're wanting to examine exactly how LGBT issues have been affected by the media, this book is by no means an encyclopedia filled with in-depth information.If you do, however, want to start understanding -- or if you're new to media studies or [gay] studies -- then this is the book for you.It lays the information out concisely (and, from what I can tell, accurately), and it never weighs itself down by stilting its language to impress the reader.A quick, simple, yet informative read. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. Gender Studies    3. Lesbian Studies    4. Mass media and gays    5. Media Studies    6. Social Science    7. Sociology    8. United States    9. 21st century    10. Gay & Lesbian studies    11. History of specific subjects    12. Literary Criticism & Collections / Gay & Lesbian    13. Postwar period, 1945 to c 2000    14. USA   

Reviews (5)

Intriguing and Attention Keeper
Men Like That is a wonderful book about Mississippi gay history.It is written by Dr. John Howard, whom himself is a gay Mississippian.Dr. Howard delves into history of gay Mississippi, something even gays in Mississippi have no idea exists, providing a sense of pride in our own community that no other person, author or otherwise, has been able to do, or tried to do.Often is the case, the Southern states are overlooked in their roles in gay history.It took a gay man from Mississippi, to bring to light Mississippi gay history.Thank you Dr. Howard.

An interesting yet mired analysis
Having spent a portion of my youth in Mississippi, I was certainly
A Humane and Surprising Queer History
"Men Like That" takes us on journeys to places that have rarely been written about before--to sites of queer culture, to places in the heart and mind, to relationships that defy categorizing.Anyone--gay,straight, or otherwise--who has felt isolated because of their sexuality,and whose isolation was lessened by an unpredictable connection withsomeone else, will benefit from this well-written, well-researched, andfascinating book.Perhaps Howard's most important contribution to thehistory of queer life is the fact that he questions identity as the primarycategory for queer folk to attach to, and he makes that challenge withhistorical evidence, not ideological platitudes or post-modern LitSpeak. The deeply humane premise--that desire links us, one and all, to createconnections with others and so to make communities that may not bemappable--asks readers to consider desire at once on its own terms, and asembedded in the curious and mundane stuff of daily life.The book aimsmost of all to contribute to a better understanding of the human condition,which is, in my view, a relief. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. Gender Studies    3. Social Science    4. Sociology    5. American history: postwar, from c 1945 -    6. Gay & Lesbian studies    7. Mississippi    8. Rural communities    9. Social Science / Gay Studies   

Reviews (1)

Sexuality uncovered
With this book Dollimore analyzes sexuality in terms of the differing conceptions of Andre Gide and Oscar Wilde.Where Wilde saw surface and performance, Gide saw a representation of essential self.Taking Wilde'sside in the argument, Dollimore uses this analysis to deconstruct sexualityas it appears in early texts. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Design - Textile & Costume    3. Gay Studies    4. Literary Criticism    5. Literature - Classics / Criticism    6. Semiotics & Theory    7. Sexual deviation    8. Sexual deviation in literature    9. English    10. Gender studies    11. History of ideas, intellectual history    12. Literary Criticism & Collections / Theory    13. Literary studies: 16th to 18th centuries    14. Literary theory    15. Literature/English | World Literature | Literary Criticism    16. The self, ego, identity, personality   

Reviews (1)

As far as text books go...!
If you're ever going to buy a book just for the pictures, look no further. Not only does "The Sexual Perspective" provide an open and thorough history of homoerotic art of the last few centuries, but itcontinues to fascinate the reader with alternative views of conventionaland popular art. As for the pictures, it's certainly not porn, but I'dadvise you to keep it on the top shelf of the bookcase.This is not forgrade-school eyes.As far as textbook-style reads go, it's definitely akeeper. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 19th century    2. 20th Century Art    3. 20th century    4. Art & Art Instruction    5. Art, Modern    6. General    7. History - General    8. Homosexuality and art    9. Sociology    10. Special Subjects In Art    11. Art / History / General    12. Gay & Lesbian studies    13. History of ideas, intellectual history    14. Man-made objects depicted in art (architectural, mechanical, etc)    15. Painting & paintings    16. Photography & Photographs    17. Sculpture & other three-dimensional art forms   

Editorial Review

When Vito Russo published the first edition of Read more

Reviews (8)

Great writing, great information
This is one of the very few books that has useful information on gays in cinema from the beginning of the film industry to (somewhat) present day.I used it as research for a writing project on homosexuals in film and it was probably the most useful source as a stepping stone of information.By current standards, some academics may say that this book is outdated and "overdone" however I consider it to be the best single source of information on gays in film to date.I question why there are so few other "popular" publications that branch out from the wonderful points and concepts that Vito Russo makes.

One of the best works of film criticism ever written.
The movie "The Celluloid Closet" is great, but you
A Remarkable Text by a Gifted Amateur in Love with Movies
Although Vito Russo (1946-1985) was well known as a gay activist and was extremely influential in the creation of such AIDS-activist organizations as ACT UP, today his reputation rests almost exclusively on THE CELLULOID CLOSET, a powerful commentary on the way Hollywood portrayed homosexuality on film from the silent era to the early 1980s.The book received considerable attention when first published in 1981, and it continues to receive considerable attention to this day--and justly so, for Russo's examination of the various gay characters created by Hollywood explores not only how such images were created by Hollywood, but how they shaped "straight" America's ideas about homosexuals and often altered the gay community's own self image as well.Read more

Subjects:  1. Film & Video - General    2. Gay Studies    3. History and criticism    4. Homosexuality    5. Homosexuality in motion pictur    6. Homosexuality in motion pictures    7. Motion pictures    8. Performing Arts/Dance    9. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    10. Special Subjects In Motion Pictures    11. Films, cinema    12. Gay & Lesbian studies    13. Social Science / General   

Reviews (11)

a pleasant change
In that it gives a look at some other murders outside of the mysterious death of John Paul I, this is a refreshing book. Yet, since it does not invlove a Pope it is likely to suffer unfairly from less interest. I recommend you not pass it up. An alternative is Lucien Gregoire's "Murder in the Vatican" which takes one on a methodical imvestigation of the murder of eight men which combination was the leadership of the progressive movement in Church - including the 'murders' of John Paul I and Paul VI.That all of these men died mysteriously within a few months of each other itself would arouse ones suspicions - but Gregoire offers much more than just that.I would recommend you buy these books as a package.
Great read.
This is another book that deals with the hypocrites in the Vatican.
GOOD READING
ALTHOUGH THE BOOK I THINK DOES NOT FINALIZE THE CONCLUSION, I FOUND THE METHODS THE AUTHOR TRIED TO PASTE TOGETHER THE BITS AND PIECES OF TRUTH OR INFORMATION WELL WORTH THE READ. IN THE END I THINK THE BOOK ANALYZES THE CHURCH MORE THAN IT SHOULD BUT THEN AGAIN WHY NOT? ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Case studies    6. Conspiracy & Scandal Investigations    7. Estermann, Alois    8. Gay men    9. Guardia svizzera pontificia    10. History    11. Police murders    12. Political    13. Sexual behavior    14. Tornay, Câedric    15. Vatican City    16. Biography & Autobiography / Political    17. Follain, John    18. Tornay, Cédric    19. True crime   

Reviews (2)

A Tour of Two Worlds
Most of us are commoner, middle class and heterosexual. We don't give thought to other worlds until something strange happens--the murder of Versace or the death of Princess Diana. This book lifts up the rug on these two worlds and allows us to glimpse at something quite alien from our own. Beneath the upper crust of society there is a social dictum that allows the rich and the well-connected to be "doing it and excusing it" as long as it's done with discretion. Behind the facade of certain marriages are gay people in hiding--arranged marriages of convenience. It is a social hypocrisy that didn't start with the Edwardian era but it certainly continues through today. Billed as a double bio, this book is more the biography of Violet Trefusis, lesbian daughter of Alice Keppel, King Edward VII's mistress and the great-grandmother of Camilla Parker-Bowles. But to tell the story of Violet, one must understand Alice and the Edwardian social set. This story is a tour through strange worlds indeed, richly told with text from the letters and published works of the main characters. This is biography that gives you the pathos of real people.Diana Souhami tries to balance the scales by telling the story of the famous lesbian affair between Vita Sackville-West and Violet Trefusis from Violet's point of view. One feels sorry for Violet but also annoyed. How long does it take for Violet to accept that Vita isn't willing to commit to their relationship? Violet, the victim, is a self-deceiving at best, dense at worst. Violet hasn't inherited her mother's ability to make the best of whatever social situation she's in. That's the ultimate tragedy of it. The hypocrisy of society will be with us forever. Only the strong learn to use it to their advantage. It's a lesson we all learn, whatever our place in this world.

Thought provoking biography
After having read this book, I can't stop thinking about it and pondering what makes us happy in life.The people in this story, constrained by the morals of their time, sought happiness through influence, fame, wealth, and sexual relationships with varying success.Today, although our society is more open and free, achieving happiness is still a challenging business.As I read about Violet Trefusis' unhappy life, I wondered how different it would have been had Vita Sackville-West eloped with her.What if their times had been more accepting of openly homosexual relationships.What if Violet had been able to live within the lie of her marriage. If this story had played out today, could it have ended with happiness for Violet.Are things so different for us today. Read more

Subjects:  1. 1894-1972    2. 20th century    3. Family    4. Family relationships    5. Gay/Lesbian Nonfiction    6. Great Britain    7. Great Britain - History    8. History    9. Lesbian Studies    10. Novelists, English    11. Novelists, French    12. Sexual behavior    13. Social Science    14. Trefusis, Violet Keppel,    15. Women    16. Women In Literature    17. Biography: general    18. Edward    19. Keppel, Alice    20. Relations with women    21. Sackville-West, V    22. Trefusis, Violet Keppel    23. United Kingdom, Great Britain   

Reviews (2)

Crichlow speaks for many black Caribbean gay men
Wesley Crichlow is a hero in the black gay community in Toronto Ontario Canada. This book PUTS A FACE TO THE STRUGGLES OF BLACK GAY MEN IN CANADA that are immigrants or children of immigrants. Black MSM to the North
Dismissing the word "gay" as Eurocentric, Crichlow is a black Canadian man who loves men who interviews similar men in two English-speaking Canadian cities.His primary purpose is to illustrate the severe homophobia in black Canadian communities and demonstrate how it hurt many black men.Read more

Subjects:  1. Bisexual men    2. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General    3. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Histor    4. Gay Studies    5. Gay men    6. Gender Studies    7. Halifax    8. Nova Scotia    9. Ontario    10. Social Science    11. Social conditions    12. Sociology    13. Toronto    14. Black studies    15. Canada    16. Gay studies (Gay men)    17. Social Science / Gay Studies   

Subjects:  1. Film & Video - General    2. Gay & Lesbian    3. General    4. Literary Criticism    5. Literature and morals    6. Moral and ethical aspects    7. Motion pictures    8. Philosophy    9. Semiotics & Theory    10. Special Subjects In Motion Pictures    11. Theory Of Literature    12. Literature: History & Criticism    13. Philosophy / General    14. Topics in philosophy   

Editorial Review

Charles Kaiser's Read more

Reviews (13)

Superb
Captures the flavor of each decade, not only through historical events, but through the words of people who lived through them. You get a sense of what it was like to live as a gay person in each decade. Gives you a great idea of the impressive scope of the gay struggle since 1940. A very enjoyable book.

lazy and lame book
i ordered this, based largely on the concept, which seemed like a book on gay history that was much needed to fill in the gaps. instead, the book comes off as if Kaiser got a nice advance and then needed to submit *some* kind of manuscript, but he had lots of other things to do, so he did the absolute minimal amount of new research. instead, he relies heavily on taped interviews with 6 or 7 gay men to fill out the pages. The chapter on the '70s, one of the most important decades in gay history, has nothing more than former bartenders saying that "the Mineshaft was wild, man" and a politico friend of his talking about how he semi-came out of the closet. No sense of the "gay metropolis" here, just a random series of unconnected anecdotes. I hope he got a nice advance, but this book isn't really worth actually BUYING - just check it out at the library, in all its dismalness, and see for yourself.

Detailed, readable, dishy
Highly detailed, highly readable, and more than a little dishy, Kaiser's chronicle of post-WWII gay life and culture is told through the stories of the individuals -- activists, celebrities, writers; many fascinating, some tragic -- who shaped it.The book's focus on New York gay males is a limitation, of course, but this is still a rich and essential volume in 20th century gay history. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. Gay men    3. Gay/Lesbian Nonfiction    4. Gays    5. Gender Studies    6. History    7. Homosexuality    8. New York    9. New York (State)    10. Social Science    11. Sociology    12. Social Science / Gay Studies   

Reviews (2)

Eye opening scholarship
Michael Rocke's tome on male culture and sexuality in Renaissance Florence is a tremendous work that provides exceptional insight into male sexuality.After reading this, only the most obdurate student of gay life and historycould fail to attain a more significant understanding of the present-dayforces that seek to quash gays and their efforts for equality under thelaw. Rocke's careful research of 15th- and 16th-century documentsunequivocably shows that if not most, quite nearly a mjority of Florentinemales at the time had sex at least once with another male. The significanceof such a finding should not be missed. A Masterpiece of Scholarship in Its Field!
I won't hide my praise; this book is a masterpiece in the study of male-male sexuality in the Renaissance.Finally, due to some historically fortuitous and unfortunately rare records, some one has provided firm demographic evidence on the phenomenon in one major city.These demographics settle a number of thorny questions that have plagued the fieldsince its inception.Over two-thirds the male population of Renaissance Florence was involved in pederasty.We are not dealing with a small but relatively freehomosexual minority; instead, the average Florentine Renaissance male, regardless of sexual orientation, engaged in some form of sex with males.This book is essential not only to those interested in the Renaissance but also to all interested in ancient (Western) history.Those interested in ancient Greece and Rome in particular will be fascinated to learn that Greek practices are still very much alive in Renaissance Italy, over two-thousand years later.The bookcasts serious doubt on thenotion that a small,aritocratic minority practiced pederasty in Classical Antiquity.Rocke firmly establishes that male pederastic sex andrelationships in Renaissance Florence were embedded inthe broader contexts of male culture and sociality, class, retribution, and politics.His book is an additional verification of the anthropological theory that most pre-industrial societiesaccepted male pederasty as a validexpression of aman's sexual desires, though only ancientGreece and Rome seem to have so publiclylauded the practicein their art, literature, and philosophy. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Italy    2. Gay Studies    3. Gay/Lesbian Nonfiction    4. Gender Studies    5. Social Science    6. Sociology    7. Cultural studies    8. European history: c 500 to c 1500    9. Gay studies (Gay men)    10. History, World | European | Italy    11. Italy    12. Social Science / Gay Studies    13. Social history    14. c 1000 CE to c 1500    15. c 1500 to c 1600   

Reviews (17)

Excellent
This is a terrifically readable book which should fascinate anyone even remotely interested in its subject. Burg is a fluid writer who easily transmits his own interest and entusiasm to the reader.
Bullwaste and the Pirate Tradition
Aarrrrgh!
Dry and speculative
While there are certainly some interesting tidbits here and there, WAY too much of the book is of the form "since no records survive to show X is false, and those records that do exist are compromised in the following ways ..., we may assume that X is true." Read more

Subjects:  1. 17th century    2. Caribbean Area    3. England    4. Gay Studies    5. Gay/Lesbian Nonfiction    6. History    7. Homosexuality, Male    8. Men's Studies - Masculinity    9. Pirates    10. Sexual behavior    11. Sexuality    12. Social Science    13. Sociology   

Reviews (2)

Fascinating, But...
A fascinating story of two extraordinary lives soaked in the demi-monde at the fin-de-siecle with the world of the rich and artistic as its background. Unfortunately, this telling comes with some irritating costs. The book is studded with bizarrely extraneous foonotes: does any reader of this story really need to be told who Dante, Proust, Cocteau, Sappho, Gertrude Stein, Sarah Bernhardt (among many others) were? Also, the author interpolates little autobiographical asides that have nothing to do with the dual biography at hand and merely comes across as an egotistical affectation.
A life still left in shadow
Gray is a difficult colour to master. It is enigmatic, aloof. It can be warm, with tints of peach and pink, or cold, with tints of sapphire and indigo. But no one could ever doubt that American artist Romaine Brooks was a master of gray. From her mysterious, icy portraits of members of the belle �poque and the jazz age, to her preference for colorless fashions and d�cor, to the melancholy of her own day to day existence, Brooks was almost the personification of the colour gray itself. It would take great skill to write a biography of such a woman. Therefore I was ecstatic to discover that Diana Souhami had taken on the task of writing a book on the entwined lives of Romaine Brooks and her long-time companion, Paris saloneuse Natalie Clifford Barney. Both American, both wealthy, both artistic, Barney and Brooks still made an odd pair. Barney was the ever-social butterfly, flitting from flower to flower, beautiful and flamboyant. Brooks was her exact opposite, a withdrawn, flighty creature from a background of insanity, who preferred to live in the shadows, alone. This sounds like perfect material for the talents of Souhami, who has already tackled the lives of such challenging individuals as Radclyffe Hall, Gertrude Stein and Greta Garbo. Souhami also wrote the award-winning "Selkirk's Island", untangling the threads of the life of Alexander Selkirk, the inspiration for Defoe's classic, "Robinson Crusoe". Yes, Brooks and Barney seemed in good hands.
Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Artists    3. Authors, American    4. Authors, French    5. Biography    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. France    8. Gay Studies    9. History: World    10. Lesbian Studies    11. Lesbians    12. Social Science    13. Sociology    14. Specific Groups - Lesbians   

Reviews (3)

Time Will Tell
Taking a similar tact to Michael Bronski's epochal PULP FRICTION, ace historian Stryker parlays a collection of battered pulps into a periscope through the murky waters of gay and lesbian acceptance in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.She's able to show, just through the cover alone, how bisexuality proved to be the wedge that eventually toppled Amewrica's binary notions of sexuality.Triangle books, two men and a woman, two women and a man, perhaps seemed safer for timid 50s readers to understand, or at any rate aroused mass curiosity, and before you know it, the "divided path" had made way for full on "queer passions."
Very Interesting!
This is an easy read and very fascinating at the same time.Stryker accomplishes bridging the gap between the socialatmosphere of the golden age and covering the different genres of books typically associated with "queer" (i.e. bisexuality, transexuality, and homosexuality) while giving a plethora of examples in each category.You just might find a pulp in this book you must read.

A fine coverage of paperback passions
Susan Stryker has written a succinct account of this corner of American paperback publishing during the middle of the last century.The four areas she covers are lesbian, bisexual, transgender and gay with each chapter having the relevant book covers (150 in all) nicely placed so they are near the appropriate text.Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. American - General    3. American fiction    4. History    5. History and criticism    6. Homosexuality and literature    7. Literature - Classics / Criticism    8. Literature: Classics    9. Popular literature    10. United States    11. American English    12. Gay & Lesbian studies    13. General & Literary Fiction    14. Literary Criticism & Collections / American    15. Novels, other prose & writers: from c 1900 -   

Reviews (5)

Effective and concise
This book is a really good run down of gay history leading up to the gay marriage issue of today. It is concise, easy to read and a great history lesson for those not too familiar with gay history.I would definitely recommend it for those who are not too familiar with the issues surrounding the gay marriage issue-and leading up to it.

Im getting married!
i am getting married to my girlfriend of 4 years, and last night was our engagement party. we had 65 friends and family celebrating our big-fat lesbian wedding. it was wonderful. marriage is so important in the collective coming out process - it legitimizes our relationship, recognizes us as a serious, devoted couple, and gives us an opportunity to have a fantastic party. I am giving the book to all the members of my family, and people in my wedding party to help educate and enlighten everyone on the history and significance of marriage and how it is not a privilege, but a right for everyone.

A history of how marriage became a key goal in GLBT politics
This book is an extraordinary exploration of the history of the modern Queer rights movement, and how same-sex marriage came to be a central issue in the past few years.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Constitutional    2. Gay Studies    3. Gay rights    4. Gender Studies    5. Homophobia    6. Homosexuality    7. Law and legislation    8. Marriage    9. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    10. Same-sex marriage    11. Social Science    12. Sociology    13. Sociology - Marriage & Family    14. United States    15. Gay & Lesbian studies   

Reviews (1)

very interesting book
This book contains many interesting researches about male/male love & sex in the days of Renaissance et Enlightment. From Italia, Iberia , and France, Germania, Scandinavia, to the Netherlands and England , but not Russia and the Eastern Europe at all.Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe    2. Gay Studies    3. Gender Studies    4. History    5. Homosexuality, Male    6. Renaissance    7. Social History    8. Social Science    9. Sociology    10. Sodomy    11. Sources    12. Gay & Lesbian studies   

Subjects:  1. England    2. English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    3. Gay & Lesbian    4. Gay Studies    5. Gender Studies    6. Gender identity    7. Hermaphroditism    8. Hermaphroditism in art    9. History    10. Human Sexuality    11. Literary Criticism    12. English    13. Literary studies: 16th to 18th centuries    14. Modern period, c 1500 onwards    15. Novels, other prose & writers    16. Social Science / Gender Studies   

Subjects:  1. Gay couples    2. General    3. Government - U.S. Government    4. Legal status, laws, etc.    5. Political Science    6. Politics / Current Events    7. Politics/International Relations    8. Public Policy - Social Policy    9. Same-sex marriage    10. Sociology - Marriage & Family    11. United States    12. Gay & Lesbian studies    13. Marriage    14. Political Science / General    15. Social history    16. USA   

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Arts, European    4. Arts, Italian    5. Arts, Renaissance    6. Fine Arts    7. General    8. Homosexuality in art    9. Italy    10. History Of Art / Art & Design Styles