Reviews (31)

So beautiful and so important
We have been partners/lovers for 14 years, and we found this book to be so important for young gay men everywhere.It was our story.White's new autobiography is also seminal reading.Thank you, Edmund!

A touchstone for millions of young gay men
This novel has been read by millions and is worth your time if you are young and gay. I read it many years ago, and remember little, other than it was an enjoyable and enlightening experience, that helped me realize I was not alone.
Eloquent, Elegant, Incisive, Provocative
What exquisite and marvelous prose! White has mastered the English language in an artful, florid, and elegant manner exceeding the great Nabokov himself. This novel, my first, but by no means last, to read, is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story about an upper-crust, well-educated, youth in the years of his gay discovery. Common to many a gay youth, a distant, unapproving father, a surrogate, unengaged step-mother, and a self-absorbed, fickle mother are found emotionally wanting. Coming of age with hormones raging, sexual exploration searches for an outlet of its expression. Attracted to his own gender, he finds satisfaction, but remains conflicted. White soughs the seeds and watches the growth of almost every gay man's deepest yearnings. It's a soft, yet vibrant tale. Poetic, yet visceral. Masterful writing. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bildungsromans    2. Fiction    3. Fiction - General    4. Gay    5. Gay youth    6. Popular American Fiction    7. Teenage boys    8. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Reviews (5)

Ellmann for Dummies
Pearce begins his book pompously: "I am convinced that [this book] penetrates to the very core of its subject."Yet, rather than provide insight into Wilde as Pearce claims, the book is only the Reader's Digest version of Ellmann's biography.If you are short on time and want an overview of Wilde's life and work, you could do worse.Just don't expect perceptive analysis.

"UNMASKING" CRAPOLA...
Joe Pearce's so-called "unmasking of Wilde" is nothing more than a gambit to capitalize on the popularity of Wildean scholarship--firstly rushed to publication in 2000 at the centenary of Wilde's death; then reissued in 2004 at the 150th anniversary of Oscar's birth.The book is a bogus rip-off of Ellmann and Hyde, simplified for simpletons at a junior high school reading level.Pearce denigrates Ellmann's magnum opus while quoting from it continuously; he quotes from Hyde without even commenting on his great work.(Yes, Ellmann died just prior to publication of his Oscar Wilde, so there were a couple of mistakes in it; however, Horst Schroeder has corrected all these in his Additions and Corrections to Ellmann's Wilde.End of story.)
an essential
There seem to be two types of Oscar Wilde biographies. One, treats him like a sexual martyr and hardly gets into his huge talents at all. The other talks only about his career and treats the episode with Lord Alfred Douglass like a spot on an otherwise pristine carpet. Jospeh Pearce refuses to take either path. He looks at Oscar Wilde, the man, the artist and the broken soul. Wilde had some ideas about himself and was like Herod, fascinated by religion but was unable to stir himself to change. He a genius and was spoiled, pampered and protected by his class and talent but that left him totally unprepared for a brute of a man like the Marquiss of Queensbury.
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Subjects:  1. 1854-1900    2. 19th century    3. Authors, Irish    4. Biography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Christianity - Catholicism    7. Gay men    8. Great Britain    9. Literary    10. Prisoners    11. Religion    12. Wilde, Oscar,   

Reviews (7)

Poignant Look At An Ordinary American Who Became A Hero
In the aftermath of 9/11, several news articles mentioned that Mark Bingham was gay and a Republican. As a gay Republican myself, this naturally interested me. However, according to this biography, he was actually a Libertarian, though like most Libertarians he agreed with the GOP on many issues and on at least one occasion he worked for a Republican's campaign.
America's New Hero
This book has been successfully written to tell the story like it should be told. Mark Bingham and the others on United Flight 93 have given new meaning to the term Hero!!This book is a wonderful addition to any collection of the events of 9/11!! Mark stood up in the face of terror and paid the ultimate sacrifice. It is because of him and the other heroes, that an even greater tragedy was avoided.This day could have been much worse if not for the courageous efforts of people like Mark Bingham!!!

Moving for what it is, not how it's written
This short biography of Mark Bingham, who died on Flight 93 that terrible day of September 11, 2001, most likely as a member of a heroic group attempting to thwart the hijackers who had taken over his plane, is carefully written and researched by one of the senior editors of the Advocate. He's done the best job possible of presenting Mark Bingham as the human being he was, which includes the fact that he was a gay man. The parallels and differences drawn between Bingham and the gay man who saved Gerald Ford from possible assassination by Sara Jane Moore are very striking and food for thought. Most of the quotes are carefully chosen and only occasionally, as in a long string of e-mail correspondence between Bingham and a friend, is there a suspicion of padding.Read more

Subjects:  1. 1970-2001    2. Bingham, Mark,    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Gay heroes    8. General    9. Historical - U.S.    10. Rugby football players    11. United Airlines Flight 93 Hijacking Incident, 2001    12. United States    13. Bingham, Mark    14. Biography & Autobiography / General    15. Biography: general   

Reviews (4)

How kind of Isherwood
To reveal a more candid portrait of his life between 1929 and 1939.
One of a Kind
This book is one of a kind....brilliant, great, adventurous, a classic.Words do not describe it.Isherwood lays evertything on the table.He shows all his cards.This is one of the most exciting books I've ever read.I'm a college student and I skipped all of the ten thousand other books I have to read in order to read this one.It was not a waste of time.Once you get into this book it's a blast.The best part is following Isherwood across Europe.If you want the definitive feeling about the Modern Era read this book.You will get to know such characters as EM Forster, W.H. Auden, and Virginia Woolfe.....Gee, ever heard of them?This is the last great classic Isherwood wrote.I was so entranced by the words that I stayed up all night to finnish it.It's defintiely on my all time favorite list.

Interesting Read- rewarding for the patient
I will admit to being slightly put off by the text when I first started reading it. However, once past the unique construction of grammar and syntax, it was an enjoyable experience. I found the filter of the English class system, homosexuality and 1920's mores an interesting perspective. I would recommend reading some of Isherwood's other texts before undertaking this one as many of the stories and characters are freely referenced and revealed in a truer light. The descriptions of Germany are unique to his age and thoroughly fascinating. The story of the man he tries to save from the Nazi's is interesting, but I particularly liked the end of the novel where he broaches the future and seeking love, and true companionship. Overall I fine read. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (Wystan Hugh),    2. 1904-    3. 1907-1973    4. 20th Century English Novel And Short Story    5. 20th century    6. Auden, W. H    7. Authors, English    8. Biography    9. Biography & Autobiography    10. Biography / Autobiography    11. Biography/Autobiography    12. Gay men    13. General    14. Great Britain    15. Isherwood, Christopher,    16. Literary    17. Specific Groups - Male Gay Studies    18. Biography: general    19. English    20. Friends and associates    21. General & Literary Fiction    22. Isherwood, Christopher    23. Literature: History & Criticism    24. Modern fiction    25. Novels, other prose & writers: from c 1900 -   

Reviews (1)

very recommendable book
It is a very interesting and readable book. However, there're someincorrect quotes or sources. E.G. p.215 note 174, He cited one old (19 thcentury) book about Messalina. But as far as I know, her lesbianismus wasnot written in any classical texts. I couldn't find her same-sex passioneither in Tacitus, Juvenalis, Suetonius or inDion Cassios. The authorhimself should have read original Greek & Latin texts. Even I anignorant Japanese did try to read them to find awritten proof. And I hopesome erudite persons will kindly teach me the authority of her sapphism. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1857-1938    2. Biography    3. Darrow, Clarence,    4. Gay Studies    5. Gay/Lesbian Nonfiction    6. Gender Studies    7. Human Sexuality    8. Lawyers    9. Social Science    10. United States    11. Gay & Lesbian studies    12. Social Science / Gay Studies   

Reviews (9)

Matt and Romaine
Romaine Patterson has a nice way with an anecdote, though the book might be just a little too much about her own peregrinations for most readers.Her story would be an interesting one even if she had never met the young Matthew Shepard at school, but there's still way too much of it.She and her girlfriends have bigger and better breakups and makeups than most people have hot meals, and each time she meets a new girl it's almost like a little gift from heaven.She's adorable in her own way, but the tangles of her family life (she is one of seemingly dozens of siblings, all of them pretty much interchangeable except for Michael, who dies of AIDS early on in the narrative) are complications to a courageously simple life.I kept thinking, if only Kelly Clarkson could act, she would be the perfect one to play Romaine in a movie.(Unfortunately for her, she was played by none other than Christina Ricci, the poison dwarf, in the film version of THE LAEAMIE PROJECT.Ricci went on to act out some of Romaine's personality crises in a subsequent project, MONSTER, in which she played the love interest of Aileen Wuornos.)
Interesting in many ways
The world shall not easily forget the memory of Matthew Shepard. Wyoming college student, so senselessly murdered on a cold October night, left to die alongside a fence with prarie lights visible in the distance, so close to help, yet so far. Much has also been said about the people in Matthew's circle; Laramie residents, all affected whether they knew him or not, and his friends and family, who formed a net to catch this falling star, only, not in time. One of these friends speaks in her frank and earnest memoir, "The Whole World Was Watching" by Romaine Patterson.
Ordinary People, Extraordinary Story
I didn't know who Romaine Patterson was until very recently and I didn't see the Laramie Project or anything.When "The Whole World was Watching"; I wasn't.I heard Derek and Romaine (Sirius OutQ 106) on the radio first.I knew about Mathew Sheppard, but didn't know much about it and certainly didn't know Romaine at all.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Fiction - General    6. Gay    7. Gay liberation movement    8. Humanitarians    9. Lesbians    10. Personal Memoirs    11. Specific Groups - General    12. United States    13. Women    14. Fiction / Gay    15. Gay & Lesbian studies    16. Human rights   

Editorial Review

Alice Carter's Read more

Reviews (14)

Great book about artists and friendship...
Some great reproductions here too, of some Pre-Raphaelite-style art from the Philadelphia area about 100 years ago. Violet spent over 25 years painting huge celebrations of the founding of Pennsylvania in the Harrirburg State Capitol. She may not ne Michaelangelo, but is not far behind his Sistine Chapel! This small coffee table book will never go out of style, and does a great job bringing back 3 great lady artists!

Informative and Entertaining
I bought this book with the idea of finding out more of the types of relationships women shared at the beginning of the twentieth century.I was astonished to find more than I bargained for.The Red Rose Girls provided more than insight into these relationships, it also provided a look inside the rise and fall of the progressive and arts and crafts movements.Pre Freud, the relationship of these woman was accepted and cherished as they lived together, and created their art.Post Freud, their relationships deteriorated as did their careers.All in all I found this book extremely entertaining, as well as heartening (a forty year relationship between two of the women) and the pictures are absolutely beautiful.If nothing else, as an art book it is extraordinary.

An Amazing Achievement
It was some months ago when I discovered and read Ms. Carter's lush tale of four intertwined lives. I still remember the regret and exhiliaration I felt on turning the final page. Read more

Subjects:  1. American - General    2. Art    3. Artists    4. Artists, Architects, Photographers    5. Biography    6. Biography & Autobiography    7. Biography / Autobiography    8. Biography/Autobiography    9. Lesbian artists    10. Specific Groups - Lesbians    11. United States    12. Women    13. Women And Art    14. Women artists    15. Art / General    16. Biography: general    17. Elliott, Elizabeth Shippen Green    18. Individual artists    19. Oakley, Violet    20. Painting & paintings    21. Pennsylvania    22. Smith, Jessie Willcox    23. c 1800 to c 1900   

Reviews (2)

Interesting life, dull book
I came across a reference to Djuna Barnes' name in another review comparing the author to Barnes.I had never heard of her despite her notoriety in the 40's.She was known for her alternate lifestyle as well as her writings, and hobnobbed with many well known artists. I purchased her book "Nightwood" at the same time I bought her biography but have not yet read it.Herring makes references to her books (with page numbers)throughout the biography and draws parallels to Barnes'life.Evidently all of her books were based on her family and their lifestyle. Her grandmother was a free soul, advocating sexual freedom and passed her views onto her son,Wald, Djuna's father.Not surprisingly, he was less than an ideal father.At one time in Djuna's childhood, her household consisted of her grandmother, her father and his wife,her many siblings, and her father's mistress and their multiple children.Despite the fascinating characters, I found Herring's book rather dry and mired in minutia.What kept me reading was the unfolding of the life of an extremely unusual and interesting person. I look forward to reading "Nightwood" and hearing about Djuna's life in her own words.I anticipate a more exciting read.

Powerful book and very disturbing
Biographies are sometimes the powerful of all writing to me. The best ones are the books that open a person's life, that reveal without judgement how the person became what they were. Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Lesbian Studies    6. Lesbians    7. Literary    8. United States    9. Women novelists    10. Women novelists, American    11. American English    12. Biography: general    13. English    14. Literary studies: from c 1900 -   

Editorial Review

Journalist Jesse Green's delightful memoir makes it quite clear that the pleasures and perils of parenting are always the same--even for a gay 37-year-old man who stumbles into it by falling in love with a person who has an adopted son. As Green puts it in a typically well-turned phrase, "fatherhood trumps gayness," which is to say that heterosexual parents at the playground sometimes find it easier to relate to Green, his boyfriend, Andy, and son, Erez (soon joined by baby brother Lucas), than do the well-buffed, perennially youthful male guests at a Fire Island party--they flinch at the sight of diapers and baby bags. As the author searchingly and intelligently considers what it means to gay people to become parents, and the ways in which it does and does not pull them closer into the mainstream, his narrative is often extremely funny. (Joking about Erez's apparently heterosexual inclinations, Green deadpans, "We tried our best: We played him Judy Garland records and showed him tapes of Read more

Reviews (33)

Have a dictionary handy
As a prospective gay dad (waiting 2 years now), I looked forward to reading this book, in a melancholic way, and I must say, at most points it truly hits home with my experience of adoption by gay men. An Unexpected Joy
As a prospective gay parent, I found Green's little book impossible to put down. His honest account of his emotions (and those of friends and family), combined with a most agreeable style makes this a wonderful book for parents-to-be of any sexual orientation.

Rich portrayal of a journey to parenthood
This book creates the most vivid portraits of the author and his partner and both of their journeys to parenthood. I liked that it was not falsely sentimental--I believed every word. I didn't want it to end. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adoptive parents    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Case studies    5. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    6. Gay Studies    7. Gay fathers    8. General    9. Parenting - Fatherhood    10. Parenting - General    11. United States    12. Family & Relationships / Parenting   

Editorial Review

At long last, an essay on the politics and poetics of queer disability. Eli Clare, a poet with cerebral palsy, movingly describes her attempt to climb Mount Adams--not, she points out, as a "supercrip," like the boy without hands who bats .486 on his Little League team, but just as an impaired person who loves to hike: a story about ableism rather than disability. Avoiding easy answers and journalistic sunshine, she recounts the story of the fight for disabled access, touching on the history of the freak show. She tracks the origins of her own tenacity and self-knowledge to her rural Oregon upbringing and the conflicting personality of her father--who sexually abused her, but also taught her how to frame a house, how to use a chainsaw. "I think of the words Read more

Reviews (7)

This subject is very important but
I did not like her style or her story. It came off like she was upset that her gayness and CP were keeping her from having a purely white, rural life. Also, if you have read in depth about Disability Culture and the freak show, this is just a restating of a lot of excellent articles on the subject.

This book changed my life
This is an excellent book for disabled queers like myself, and the author, Eli Clare.The book is easily read--Clare uses language that is not pretentious, but establishes a voice that is eloquently compelling."Exile" masquerades as autobiographical but contains a powerful critique of the social constructions of class, disability, sexuality, race, gender, the environment and just about everything else you could imagine (I know this might seem impossible--but Clare accomplishes it in this wonderful book).I highly recommend this book.

Invitation into Experience
Clare writes her autobiography in word paintings. Clare explores the multiple differences of disability, queerness, transgenderism, abuse, socioeconomic class, and gender with reflection that empowers rather than victimizes or blames. While considering how the history around her has shaped the world and affected who she is, she considers how she has shaped the world. Clare refuses to collapse the intricate complexities of life into something more managable. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Cerebral palsied    3. Clare, Eli    4. Essays    5. General    6. Literary Collections    7. Literature: Classics    8. Popular Culture - General    9. Sociology    10. United States    11. Women political activists    12. Lesbian studies    13. Social Science / Lesbian Studies   

Reviews (2)

A wonderful read
As one of the contributors to this book I found the stories heart warming and enlightening.Not all of us succeed in every endeavor of our lives, but the challenge to each of us is the quality of our journey!The journeys discussed here will make you cry, laugh and appreciate your own chosen path through this life.This is a must read for anyone wanting to understand the gender diversity of those living in and around you.

Run before the wind.
As I am one of the Authors of a story contained in this book I find the editing, production ,front cover and basic issues discussed are very good. All stories are relevant and provide a good discussion of the subject Matter. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Sexual Behavior    2. Biography    3. Gender Studies    4. Gender identity    5. Human Sexuality    6. Sex Roles (Sociological Aspects)    7. Social Science    8. Sociology    9. Sociology - General    10. Transsexualism    11. Transsexuals   

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. General    3. Cameron, Elspeth    4. Lesbian studies   

Reviews (2)

Real Tales from Real Life
I have traveled the world for several decades.I would recommend to every gay traveler that he read this book before going to virtually any Third World country. A Gay Man's Sexual Travel Adventures & Erotic Experiences!
Once in a while you read a book where you actually feel the author is having a personal conversation with you as he relives and tells you about his life experiences.You become so absorbed in the story he is telling you that you forget that the present world exists around you.That's the way I felt while reading Joseph Itiel's book about his gay sexual travel adventures and experiences.He reveals the many fascinating, exciting, and erotic sexual experiences he has had with men of different nationalities over the last four decades.He begins with his first sexual experiences in the1950's in NYC and Toronto, and his first foreign adventure to Rishikesh, India, where he became an apprenticed yogi.By taking up yoga he was able to cover up his homosexual activities while living in India.After all, this was the 1950's.This trip was not the wonderful experience he had hoped it would be.It did confirm and teach him, however, that his most satisfying sexual experiences would come from males who were ethnically and culturally different from him and he soon discovered he was also assured a more pleasurable sexual experience when he paid for it.Thus, his life-long positive relationships with male "hustlers", now known as "sex workers", would be established. Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Essays & Travelogues    4. Gay Studies    5. Gay men    6. Personal Memoirs    7. Sexual behavior    8. Travel    9. Travel - General    10. Sociology, Social Studies   

Editorial Review

Before Read more

Reviews (13)

Stick with Rubyfruit.
As a proud vet of the Feminist frontlines 1968-1976, I could hardly wait to read her newest book. Her classic book Rubyfruit Jungle was a gem. As THE "coming out" book of it's time I share the sentiment of millions who feel it will always be sacred. However,I was shocked and totally disappointed with Rita Mae Brown's attempt at writing her own story. The person she reveals to us in Rita Will is beyond ego strong. She is ruthlessly self-absorbed and many times cruel.Everyone (else) is wrong, or less than, or not as smart or not as significant as Rita according to Rita (with the one exception-- her cat.)The book Rita Will reveals Rita as a sad and shallow person, with high marks only for narcissism.Best to avoid this book and re-read Rubyfruit Jungle instead. You'll continue to have a positive impression of Ms. Brown if you do.

Funny and Wild
This book is hilarious--several times I found myself laughing out loud at something she said. I minused out one star because of her blatant southern-centricism--she thinks most of us Yankees are rude, and that only southerners possess real manners. My little tabby cat Sammy says PFFFFFTTT to that. Great Book!
...I'm a tennis fan who was curious about the author's insights on Martina Navratilova.What I ended up with was a tremendously interesting and engaging book.Rita Mae Brown has perspectives and experiences unlike my own and I could not put the book down.I liked the parts about her family also.Certainly there are political messages here, but they are based on her own experiences and are not "preachy" or coming from someone who lives in theories only.If you are a fan of her books, this will be a big treat for you.If you don't know her, read this book for a different life perspective, particuarly about women's issues, including lesbian issues.If these issues offend you, or you don't like reading about them, then this book is probably not for you.It's not an integral part of the book, but it is there.The book is about a person.The book reads like you are talking to her, and she is very interesting.Also, I always suspected Billie Jean King was wretched personally, so I really liked the parts where my opinion is all but supported by someone in the know!Read more

Subjects:  1. 1865-    2. 20th century    3. American novelists    4. Biography    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. Biography/Autobiography    8. Brown, Rita Mae    9. Lesbians    10. Literary    11. Novelists, American    12. Social life and customs    13. Southern States    14. Specific Groups - Lesbians    15. United States    16. Women    17. Biography & Autobiography / Women    18. Biography: film, television & music   

Reviews (2)

Williams in the context of his homosexuality
Gentlemen Callers is a penetrating look at the work of Tennessee Williams in the context of his homosexuality and the pervasive homophobia in the midst of which he grew up and created some of the most moving and significant works of drama in the English language.Gentlemen Callers describes in all its chilling reality the emergence of intense homophobia in the mid-20th century, intentionally fostered by government agencies, and discusses how this homophobia impacted his life and his work.Author Paller makes a particular effort to point out the wrongmidedness of latter day gay liberationist critics who pilloried Williams for supposedly creating characters from an internalized homophobia, criticism which failed to appreciate the process of artistic creation and the characters themselves in their dramatic settings.Paller analyzes a number of the most developmentally significant of Williams' plays in the light of the homosexuality that was such an important motif in his oeuvre.Gentlemen Callers is an engaging study, and the most substantial examination of this writer in the context of the homosexuality that so signficantly informed his work.

The Man, The Time, and Life in America
This book is kind of a mixture. Partly it's a biographical sketch of Tennesee Williams, partly it's a review of the struggles gay and lesbian people had during the 1940's and '50's, partly it's an analysis of the homosexuality in Williams plays, partly it's an analysis of the critics writing about his plays. And all of that is a lot to put in one rather small book.
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Subjects:  1. 1911-1983    2. 20th century    3. American    4. Criticism and interpretation    5. Drama    6. Gay Studies    7. History    8. Homosexuality and literature    9. Homosexuality, Male, in literature    10. Performing Arts    11. Sexual orientation in literature    12. Social Science    13. Sociology    14. Theater - History & Criticism    15. United States    16. Williams, Tennessee,    17. Biography & Autobiography    18. Drama-American    19. Literary Criticism-Drama    20. Performing Arts / Theater / History & Criticism    21. Sex in literature    22. Social Science / Gay Studies   

Reviews (15)

Mighty, mighty real
Magic happens where reality and fantasy overlap. It's a space that dance music star Sylvester effortlessly occupied during the outrageous and flamboyant club scene of the mid-70s to early 80s, when those lines were happily blurred on a nightly basis.
Fabulous
It took 17 years for someone to realize that the world needed to know who Sylvester was and how he impacted music and society.This book was wonderful.Being a huge fan of Sylvester, this was truly a treat.A very good read.I must say, I did learn some things about Syl that were very shocking, but I am glad that I have finally been told his true life story.It is so sad that we can not hear that wonderful falsetto voice anymore.He will always be missed.I met him early in 1987 and he was truly fabulous!

You Would Only Want To - - - - Read This
This book is by far the best book I have read this year. I travel alot so I read about1 to 2 books a week. The Fabulous Sylvester is absolutely fabulous. This book made me Cry, made me Laugh, made me Sing, made me Rejoice, and made me Remember. If you were there in days of disco weather the early, middle or last days of it, take a stroll down memory lane with Gamson's accurate discription of the Garage. And although I learned alot about Sylvester I did not know, this book is a great tribute to the Disco era, as well as the Fabulous Sylvester himself. Like I said YOU WOULD ONLY WANT TO. (DATING MYSELF HERE) ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1947-1988    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. California    7. Composers & Musicians - Pop    8. Disco music    9. Disco musicians    10. Entertainment & Performing Arts - General    11. Genres & Styles - Dance    12. History and criticism    13. People of Color    14. San Francisco    15. Singers    16. Specific Groups - Male Gay Studies    17. Sylvester,    18. United States    19. Social Science / Popular Culture   

Reviews (7)

Gut-wrenching
Further down, someone - presumably dissatisfied by the fact that John Pilger doesn't try to explain away the crimes of Western politicians as acts of historical necessity - referred to the author's "monumental left-wing bias". Indeed. Pilger is heavily biased, there is no doubt about that. Pilger is biased in favour of the innocent, the harmless, the poor, and the victims of atrocity. This unfortunate bias certainly distorts everything he writes, making it impossible for him to sneak in the self-serving excuses of the Western pigs who have benefitted from decades of brutality and oppression which they have either directly perpetrated or had perpetrated on their behalf by their paid minions and stooges.
Oh for goodness' sake!
Left-wing bias from beginning to end.If you're serious about getting an even perspective on things,find some other source.I can handle a certain amount of distortion,but really,there are limits.Waste of time and money.

Stimulate your Conscience
You can't deny that John Pilger has witnessed more than his fair share of social injustice, abuse of power and bloodshed on a variety of continents and he covers many in this excellent collection of essays. Unlike so many of today's journalists, he's actually put in the leg-work and been to these events and seen first hand what's going on (rather than re-hash second-hand reports), so he knows what he's talking about. His reporting is accurate and well researched and he regularly challenges the accepted norm: in this fine book, he really does make you stop and think about the folly of current World leaders who time and again fail to learn from past mistakes. Read more

Subjects:  1. Australia    2. Biography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Gay Studies    5. General    6. History - Military / War    7. Journalists    8. Military - General    9. Multicultural Education    10. Pilger, John    11. Social Science    12. Sociology    13. Social Science / Gay Studies   

Reviews (27)

The Hell Of Growing Up Gay
This story is heart-wrenching from the first pages.So many gay men come from homes where abuse and booze fueled their upbringing.Randy describes this with raw, real emotion that is hard to imagine anyone going through these experiences.I applaud you for having the strength and courage to tell your story - and hope your words may help heal our souls-

KIANGA - wishing you sunshine after the rain!
To those fortunate enough to read this book.Never before have I felt compelled to comment on a book, much less take the time to share my thoughts with complete strangers.This has changed my entire outlook on many things - and where I may have not trusted before - I feel like I know Randy and that we are family.No - I did not experience the difficulties such as his, however - in a different way - my life was filled many odd and sad memories of growing up Catholic.I married for all the wrong reasons - I denied who I was - and found my life only in my middle years.I was moved to write today to urge ALL men to read this.There is without a doubt - a piece of each of us in Randy's life.His honesty is so rare in life - and more so amongst gay men I believe.Few have the courage to share as he did - with such candid and forthright disclosure.So - whether your searching to find your soul or not - this is a must read for all gay men - or anyone courageous enough to face the truth of our lives.I wholeheartedly recommend this - and now I'm off to finish reading "Before the last Dance". Like I wrote to randy - to all of you - I wish you KIANGA!!

Great weekend read
I found this book recently upon moving to the author's city of Atlanta. I was starting a new chapter in my life, and much like the author expressed early on in the book, I was running away from a horrible childhood. The graphic details in which he displays his experiences forced me to relive similar situations of my own. Eventually, I was able to even talk with