Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. Gender Studies    3. Lesbian Studies    4. Parenting - General    5. Social Science    6. Social Work    7. Sociology    8. Gay & Lesbian studies    9. Literary Criticism & Collections / Gay & Lesbian    10. Parenthood   

Reviews (2)

To be stronger at the broken places
One of the subjects of these seven essays, which have their center on the theme of ' the wound and the bow', Ernest Hemingway spoke after his famous First World One wounding, about 'being stronger at the broken places'. The major idea and myth around which this group of essays center is the myth of Philocetes, the Wound and the Bow. The final essay of this work explicates and retells the myth. Philocetes has been charged with Heracles with the task of lighting his funeral - pyre. For this he is rewarded with Heracles, great weapon, a bow. On the way to wage the war against Troy the Greek stop in a small island. Philocetes approaches the local shrine to worship and his given a terrible bite by a snake. The wound does not heal, rather festers. And it gives off a terrible smell. The fellow- warriors of Philocetes abandon him to his terrible suffering, and to the additional suffering of loneliness. Years pass. The Greeks are not able to triumph over the Trojans. They capture one of the Trojan soothsayers who tells them that they will never triumph unless they use the arms of Heracles. Odysseus returns to the island where Philocetes has been abandoned. Wilson in retelling the story focuses on the version of Sophocles, and not on parallel ones of Aeschylus and Euripedes. In this version Heracles son at the behest of Odysseus attempts to persuade Philocetes to give over the weapon. The young man is honest and does not wish to engage in the ruse and deceptions suggested by Odysseus. Essentially Odysseus instructs him to be deceitful for this one time, so that they can be more honest later on. But the young man refuses, and in so doing provides his loyalty to Philocetes, his understanding of his suffering. As a result they venture with the bow to Troy where the Greeks at last have their victory.
Parentless and helpless child
Dickens was Dostoyevsky's master.Shaw and Chesterton saw Dickens as a very great writer.His grandfather had been a butler and his grandmother a housekeeper.When Charles's father went to Marshalsea Prison when he was twelve his life changed.His whole nature was penetrated by grief and humiliation.Wilson's theory is that the literary work is compensation for the wound.In the middle of his career Dickens experienced a mounting dislike for the top layers of middle class society.Dickens invented a new literary genre, the novel of the social group.In LITTLE DORRIT the fable was presented through imprisoning states of mind.Dickens was emotionally unstable, almost as unstable as Dostoyevsky.
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Subjects:  1. General    2. History and criticism    3. Literary Criticism    4. Literature    5. Literature - Classics / Criticism    6. Regional, Ethnic, Genre, Specific Subject    7. Special Subjects In Literature    8. Suffering in literature    9. Literary Criticism & Collections / Gay & Lesbian    10. Literary studies: general   

Editorial Review

Composer Ned Rorem has an exquisite way with a song, distilling musical essences to provide miniature masterpieces that linger in listeners' minds.He is also, as these diaries prove, a facile, if somewhat undisciplined, writer. And someone mired in self-absorption. At the time Rorem wrote his diaries, he was distinctly callow and obsessed with being "pretty"; yet the picture that emerges of him in his youth is not entirely attractive. The book will be of interest to those who are curious about the lives of significant composers, both for the small insights that he shares about his composition process and for the details of his life and the circumstances under which he wrote his music. His vividly sketched picture of gay life more than a generation ago widens the audience of this book. Read more

Reviews (1)

Learning Ned Rorem - Lesson One
I came about Rorem 'round about-ly -through videos of interviews and liner note snippets - and was greatly intrigued by his blatantly keen mind. While learning the music, I put the 'word' into it all and it plunged me even deeper. Between his impish candor and spotless observation one experiences a fine chunk of a true artistic pursuit. Also, his reflections on the two worlds of Paris and New York and the creative flora and fauna therein are priceless. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1923-    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Composers    4. Diaries    5. Gay & Lesbian    6. General    7. Literature - Classics / Criticism    8. Music    9. Rorem, Ned,    10. United States    11. Biography: general    12. Composers & musicians    13. Gay studies (Gay men)    14. Rorem, Ned    15. c 1945 to c 1960    16. c 1960 to c 1970   

Subjects:  1. Comparative Literature    2. Gay & Lesbian    3. General    4. Infanticide in literature    5. Literary Criticism    6. Literature - Classics / Criticism    7. Literature, Comparative    8. Medea (Greek mythology) in lit    9. Medea (Greek mythology) in literature    10. Murder - General    11. Sociology - Marriage & Family    12. Special Subjects In Literature    13. Themes, motives    14. Literary Criticism & Collections / General    15. Literary studies: classical, early & medieval   

Reviews (1)

Killer Cronicas
Clever, sassy, intelligent, poetic... continual code-switching is a wonderful vehicle to convey the sensations and experiences of a multi-cultural life. Her poetry invokes the intimacy I often feel when back in a long-lost land. Her quick wit and carefully-chosen details chronical well the feelings of isolation and observer-looking-in that seem to dog me wherever I land.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Chavez-Silverman, Susana    4. Châavez-Silverman, Susana    5. Ethnic Cultures - General    6. Ethnic Studies - Hispanic American Studies    7. Gay & Lesbian    8. Latin Americans    9. Literary Criticism    10. Personal Memoirs    11. United States    12. Biography: general    13. Social Science / Ethnic Studies   

Reviews (4)

Review of De Los Otros
This book provided a lot of good information pertaining to homosexuality among Mexican men.The nice part about it is that if presents many stories of real people and their interactions with homosexuality in Guadalajara.I would recommend this book with the understanding that it is very explicit sexually.

Reflection of a modern day academic maverick!
Dr. Carrier is a phenomenal ethnographer and writer.He's done a magnificent job in bringing anthropological methods to life in a very palatable form.

Pioneer research, musty ahistoricl analysis
Dr. Carrier pioneered long-term fieldwork among a subculture of males who have sex with males. This book presents some of his data from Guadalajara, extending back to his dissertation fieldwork in the early 1970s. Like most anthropologists, he has no tools for making sense out of changes. That hehas data extending over decades does not mean he treats these datahistorically. The data _are_ important and interesting, but the author isat a loss about what to do with them. (Like Annick Prieur and Don Kulick,among others, he is not at all hesitant to overgeneralize from a relativelynarrow, unrandom sample: taking the network the anthropologist happened toenter as a microcosmic epitome of a culture/society is something elseanthropologists do all too readily!)Read more

Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. Gay liberation movement    3. Gay men    4. Gay/Lesbian Nonfiction    5. Guadalajara    6. Homosexuality, Male    7. Men's Studies - Masculinity    8. Mexico    9. Sexual behavior    10. Social Science    11. Sociology    12. Anthropology    13. Cultural studies    14. Gay studies (Gay men)    15. Literary Criticism & Collections / Gay & Lesbian   

Reviews (1)

Between Sodom and Eden - appeals to a broad audience!
"Between Sodom and Eden" represents an astounding tour de force.Walzer's book is a must-read for anyone interested in contemporary Israeli society and politics, as well as the sometimes surprising approach ofJudaism to homosexuality.His prose brings alive the tensions, conflicts,and contradictions of a society in search of its identity as Israel becomesan increasingly multicultural, post-Zionist society.That Israel is one ofthe most progressive countries in the world today on gay rights willsurprise most Americans, who think of the Jewish state as the land of thestory of Sodom and Gomorrah (with its reputed condemnation ofhomosexuality).The cast of characters in Walzer's book -- a transsexualpop Diva, openly gay high school students and kibbutzniks, lesbianpoliticians, and a cast of supportive straight politicians and educators,to name just a few -- guarantees new surprises on each page. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Contemporary Politics - Middle East    2. Gay Studies    3. Gays    4. Gender Studies    5. Homosexuality    6. Israel    7. Lesbian Studies    8. Lesbians    9. Middle East - Israel    10. Social Science    11. Social conditions    12. Sociology    13. Literary Criticism & Collections / Gay & Lesbian   

Subjects:  1. 1899-1932    2. American - General    3. Crane, Hart,    4. Criticism and interpretation    5. Gay & Lesbian    6. Gay/Lesbian Nonfiction    7. Homosexuality and literature    8. Literary Criticism    9. Literature - Classics / Criticism    10. Masculinity in literature    11. Sexual orientation in literature    12. United States    13. English    14. Gay studies (Gay men)    15. Poetry & poets: from c 1900 -    16. Poetry / Single Author / American    17. USA   

Subjects:  1. American literature    2. Caribbean & Latin American    3. Gay & Lesbian    4. Hispanic American authors    5. History and criticism    6. Lesbians' writings, American    7. Literary Criticism    8. Literature - Classics / Criticism    9. Spanish American literature    10. Women Authors    11. Literary studies: general    12. Literature of special Gay & Lesbian interest   

Reviews (3)

A smorgasboard of eroticsim for who .......
I gave this book a one star rating since half the stories were from the USA not making this an INTERNATIONAL book to be sold in the USA by any means. Missing from the anthology were any stories from India (considering its one of the only countries with temples dedicated to the erotica) and only one story from Japan (a dumb story I might add that included scenes of girls rubbing bacon on their bodies) Too many sex-negative stories
Most of the stories in this volume are clever, well-written, and fashionably postmodern. But that doesn't make them sexy! Story after story, I kept feeling that many of these authors just plain don't like sex. A fewstories are fun and sexy, but these are very rare. The book has sex galore,but very little of it is what I'd call erotic.

an anthology of assorted eroticism
This is a definite read.A collection of truly beautiful treasures from acclaimed international writers including Anne Rice, J.G. Ballard, Regine Deforges, and Michael Perkins (just to name a few).Due to the explicitcontent, however, perhaps the suggested reading age is 17.Otherwise, thisis a fortunate find. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Erotic literature    2. Erotica - General    3. Fiction    4. Fiction - Adult    5. Gay & Lesbian    6. Literary collections    7. Sex    8. Sexuality In Literature    9. Short Stories (Anthologies)    10. Modern fiction   

Subjects:  1. Anthologies (multiple authors)    2. Gay & Lesbian    3. Gay/Lesbian Nonfiction    4. Gays' writings    5. Homosexuality    6. Lesbians' writings    7. Poetry    8. Gay & Lesbian studies    9. Literary Criticism & Collections / General    10. Poetry texts & anthologies   

Reviews (1)

Absolute Genius! Assimilationists look out!
This is the most reasonable, well organized work on gay political culture in existence. Bersani delves beyaonf the rhetoric, and into the psyche of society and the gay culture, making clear why "de-gaying gayness" is a travesty to all parts of society. It is a must reaa for anyone grappling with their sense of society, belonging, be-ing. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. Gender Studies    3. Sociology    4. Literary Criticism & Collections / Gay & Lesbian   

Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. Gay men    3. Gay men in literature    4. Gender Studies    5. Identity    6. Relations with heterosexual wo    7. Relations with heterosexual women    8. Social Science    9. Sociology    10. Women in literature    11. Literary Criticism & Collections / Gay & Lesbian   

Reviews (2)

Lonesome Cowboys
Chris Packard puts together an entertaining, and intellectually stimulating tour of some "cowboy literature" of the 19th century, emphasizing everywhere its homosocial qualities, and finding the erotic under every set of chaps.Comical, sometimes suggestive period photographs dot the text, cowhands hugging each other, holding hands, or even standing "too close" to each other, dancing, or swimming nude.Packard begins his survey of American lit with the Leatherstocking Tales of James Fenimore Cooper (and his sea stories too, which share some of the same tropes of white man + "othered" man finding love where no woman dare go).Cooper's always good for a few laughs, but the intensity of same-sex feeling that Packard finds in these novels might make you momentarily confused--might he be writing about DENNIS Cooper's books?On a broad level, was homosexuality encouraged "on the trail" as a way of avoiding children of mixed race?So it seems.
I DON'T THINK THE COWBOYS WERE ALL GAY
This author examines (mostly) 19th century fictional stories about cowboys and tries to make the case that the relationships between the cowboys described in the stories are in fact homosexual sexual relationships. That the (mostly) Victorian sentiments in the stories which describe the love, admiration, attachments, and living arrangments between the cowboys are, in reality, describing cowboys who are homosexual and who can't keep their eyes or hands off each other.That the reason all these cowboys sleep in their bedrolls in pairs, live together in wilderness cabins just like married straight couples, and find children who are orphans to raise as their own, is that all these cowboys are gay.That the hundreds of novels and short stories about cowboys published in books and in pulp magazinesand read by millions of straight boys and men for the last 200 years and who thought that they were simply adventure stories about cowboys, were really gay love stories drenched in erotic language and imagery.I'd really love to believe this is true, that cowboy stories are really gay romances.But this book Queer Cowboys doesn't convince me.Characters in fiction don't have real lives the way people who are subjects of biographies have real lives.The cowboy stories NEVER say that the cowboys have sex with each other.I think the author of Queer Cowboys is misinterpreting the over-the-top Victorian sentiments about admiration and platonic love in these stories.I don't believe that the stories are revealing that cowboys were all gay.But the book is thought provoking, and the author has courage, and I think it's worth reading since there isn't a lot else on the subject. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American - General    2. Gay & Lesbian    3. Gay Studies    4. History    5. History: American    6. Literature - Classics / Criticism    7. United States - General    8. Film theory & criticism    9. Gender studies    10. USA   

Subjects:  1. 1875-1955    2. 20th century    3. Biography    4. Confession in literature    5. European - German    6. Gay & Lesbian    7. German Novel And Short Story    8. Guilt in literature    9. Literary Criticism    10. Literature - Classics / Criticism    11. Mann, Thomas,    12. Novelists, German    13. German    14. Literary studies: from c 1900 -   

Reviews (2)

Brilliant
These interviews with 12 notable gay authors are powerful meditations on literary creativity and gay identity.The deeply insightful questions--Canning read everything by each of these authors before interviewing them--draw thoughtful, at times surprising responses from a wide range of authors.Readers are left to draw their own conclusions about the sum effect of the interviews, but one result for myself was fresh respect for these men and for their hardworking devotion to art.I am eager to read further volumes of Canning's interviews; it is such a pleasure to read intelligent commentary about novels by gay authors, when so much of what we get is filtered through annoying celebrity-obsessed, therapy-thirsty media like The Advocate and Out.

Unmissable!
Wow! I just got hold of this book, and it's a must for allreaders of gay fiction - in fact, for all readers. It's a collectionof interviews with the novelists you've most probably read, and talksabout how to write, literary influences, reputations. There's somehigh quality literary gossip but lots of serious analysis too. Youcan't believe some of the stuff is 'on record'! The conversations arelively, funny, never repetitive or boring, and they sort of all linkup. You can read the whole thing in one go - it's like a chatroom withall your favourite gay writers. Why has nobody done this before? Icould quibble about some missing authors, but they may turn up involume 2... Meanwhile, this book gave me a massive reading list that Iwant to check out. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. American fiction    3. Gay & Lesbian    4. General    5. History    6. History and criticism    7. Homosexuality and literature    8. Interviews    9. Literary Criticism    10. Literature - Classics / Criticism    11. Novelists, American    12. Theory, etc    13. United States    14. English    15. Gay & Lesbian studies    16. Literary Criticism & Collections / General    17. Literature of special Gay & Lesbian interest    18. Novels, other prose & writers: from c 1900 -   

Subjects:  1. Gay & Lesbian    2. Gay Studies    3. Gay and lesbian studies    4. Gender Studies    5. Homosexuality in literature    6. Lesbian Studies    7. Literary Criticism    8. Semiotics & Theory    9. Literary Criticism & Collections / Theory    10. Literary Criticism-Gay & Lesbian    11. Social Science / Gay Studies    12. Social Science-Lesbian Studies   

Editorial Review

Among the beacons of sex radicalism--alongside Susie Bright, Carol Queen, Kate Bornstein, and very few others--Pat Califia has been writing angry, sex-positive essays and politically charged erotica since the late 1970s. The bulk of her many nonfiction pieces is collected in this reprint of a book first published in 1994, providing a lively, informal history of the sex wars of the '80s and '90s--from the absurd, puritanical Meese Commission Report to the antiporn feminists to the unexamined attitudes behind the popular Re/Search book Read more

Reviews (7)

Delightful yet intellectually serious work from a pioneer in the sex-positive movement
This books collects many of Patrick Califia's writings from the late 1970s through the early 90s and is a real jewel of a book. I recommend the newest edition, publish in the early 2000s that includes a new introduction and new essay on the most controversial topic in the book that is well worth reading for it shows the evolution of Califia's thought on an immensely contentious subject.
Classic republished plus some
If you have an earlier printing of this collection do not buy this version, just borrow it for the new essays.Most of the essays were earlier published in journals such as "The Advocate".The essays themselves are unchanged but the introductions are rather defensive in nature, reflecting the political climate in which this book is published.The essays are organized into their sections and within each section by the year their were written.This gives us a great sense of how Califia's own views have changed through the years.

Bold and articulate
My first reading of Pat Califia's work was in PoMoSexuals, a collection of essays where she was one of the contributors.Her writing was so eloquent and coherent that I sought out her books.In this collection of her essays, Califia challenges the muddled thinking and hyperbole so prevalent among feminists (especially Andrea Dworkin) about pornography and sexual "deviance."Califia's knowledge and arguments are stated clearly with humor and compassion.Many quotable quotes such as:"It is true that pornography is marketed for a male audience, but there are women who enjoy it. I do not think it sufficient to say these women are brainwashed by the patriarchy, since women are socialized NOT to use erotic materials." (p. 109)Read more

Subjects:  1. Gay & Lesbian    2. Gay Studies    3. Gay/Lesbian Nonfiction    4. Homosexuality    5. Human Sexuality    6. Lesbian Studies    7. Literary Criticism    8. Pornography    9. Sadomasochism    10. Sex customs    11. Sociology    12. United States    13. Gay & Lesbian studies    14. Gender studies    15. Social Science / Gender Studies    16. USA   

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Gay & Lesbian    3. Gay Studies    4. Gender Studies    5. History and criticism    6. Homosexuality in literature    7. Identity (Psychology) in liter    8. Literary Criticism    9. Literature and history    10. Sociology    11. Fiction--History and criticism    12. Gay & Lesbian studies    13. Social Science / Gender Studies   

Subjects:  1. American - General    2. Gay & Lesbian    3. Literary Criticism