Reviews (4)

Quite Disturbed that this come up under Mentally Ill Parents
I've never read this book, but I'm very disturbed that it came up under a search of mentally ill parents.I think amazon should be ASHAMED to have classified homosexuality as a mental illness.I am SHOCKED!

It's about time!
I loved this book.I found that it's something so new over the past few years, as far as something that people talk about.We've come so far relative to diversity, acceptance, and sharing our personal stories, that a book like this is a breath of fresh air.I'm happy that it talks about things from a child's perspective, and doesn't try to be too clinical or matter-of-fact.My children loved the book (they're teens....and I'm a gay dad) and it put all of the challenges, blessings, and difficulties into perspective for them.We're all walking a different path, and it's great to see what others (and their children have gone through.

almost child friendly
i found the book a good read, but my young daughter has a little trouble with the words not being literacy friendly. she has trouble with adult words (the spelling). otherwise i enjoyed it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children of gay parents    2. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Nonfiction    3. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    4. Family - Parents    5. Gay parents    6. Juvenile Nonfiction    7. Juvenile literature    8. Parent and child    9. Parenting - General    10. Psychology    11. Social Issues - Homosexuality    12. Personal awareness: family, relationship & social issues   

Editorial Review

In the past, most children of gay or lesbian parents were born into heterosexual families that later broke up. Today, more and more lesbian and gay couples are making the decision to have and raise families together.Read more

Reviews (5)

Brilliant and helpful
A wonderful and enlightening book, bringing some sense of normalcy to a perfectly normal topic. Effective parenting is about love, after all, and not about the sexual plumbing of the persons doing the parenting. I only wish that the authors had gathered a more comprehensive list of educational resources to help us present a balanced view of the world, and of history, to our kids. ...But overall, a splendid book!

Overall, a great book!
This book was informative and an easy read.As a lesbian parent of a small child,I was really looking for a book on lesbian parenting. This book includes a great deal about becoming a parent so I would recommend this book to gay or lesbian folks who are thinking about becoming parents as the chapters on adoption, co-parenting, donor insemination, etc. were well written and seemed to cover just about every aspect that goes into the decision to be a parent and how to become one.Even though only 1/2 of the book covered actual parenting and some of it included the authors heartbreaking personal experiences, I found the information to be very helpful to me as a lesbian parent.

Excellent resource for gay guys considering parenthood.
A great way to start the process on becoming a gay parent (there aren't many books/resources out there for gay guys considering parenting). I found the sections on the different ways to become a parent (international adoption, local open adoptions, birth parents, etc.) to be a very helpful starting point. The storiesfrom friends of the author really helped me and my partner through the concerns and jitters we had. I was especiallygrateful for the chapters on dealing with parents and others when letting them in on the news. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Child Development And Rearing    2. Children of gay parents    3. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    4. Gay Studies    5. Gay parents    6. Homosexuality    7. Lesbian Studies    8. Parenting    9. Parenting - General    10. Sociology    11. United States    12. Child care & upbringing    13. Gay & Lesbian studies   

Editorial Review

Since the late 1980s, queer studies and theory have become vital to the intellectual life of the U.S. This has been, to no small degree, due to the popularity of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's critically acclaimed Read more

Reviews (9)

The "Problem" with Conceptual Schemes, New and Old
The August 11, 1999 "a reader" comments about Sedgwick's prose is especially valuable. The tendency to "abuse" language, in J. L. Austin's famous phrase, seems pronounced in Francophile and postmodernist writings, as if obscuritanism is a measure of profundity rather than a measure of obscuritanism. Several critics have justly claimed that unintelligibile writing and ideation only expose unintelligibility.
Deep wading
Ugh, a tough, tough book to read.I found myself really bogged down by this book and looked more forward just to getting through it than actually getting anything out of it.Sedgewick's style is definately not for me, but if you can get past the thick writing style you may be able to glean some interesting points from it.

...Theory should always be so good
According to the writer Avital Ronell, in his youth Kant wanted to be a poet.Fortunately for us, perhaps, he turned to philosophy instead.Through this turn Kant ended up setting the standard towards which most academics currently strive: a zero-degree style (which Lyotard both attempts to mime and identifies as naive in the preface to The Differend).What this does, essentially, is provide the rather stupid (and perpetually misrecognized) effect that an author is objective, sound, and important.Most of the time, authors are none of these.Read more

Subjects:  1. American - General    2. American fiction    3. Gay Studies    4. Gay men's writings    5. History and criticism    6. Homosexuality and literature    7. Literary Criticism    8. Literature - Classics / Criticism    9. Male authors    10. Melville, Herman,    11. Theory, etc    12. Gay studies (Gay men)    13. Gender studies    14. Literary Criticism & Collections / General    15. Literary studies: general    16. Literary theory   

Reviews (3)

A fascinating introduction to bisexual feminism
In "Bi Lives: Bisexual Women Tell Their Stories ", Kata Orndoff interviews a diverse group of bisexual women about their sexual identities and experiences, challenging the bigotry and myths perpetuated by both the radical right and sadly enough, certain elements of cultural feminism. How does biphobia manifest itself in the lives of bisexual women? Just as bi men have been scapegoated for transmitting hiv/aids into the female heterosexual population, bisexual women have been similarly blamed for bringing hiv/aids into the lesbian community (an insidious variation of the 1970's idea of bisexual women contaminating the lesbian community with "male energy".) Moreover, bisexual women are often told that they are actually confused lesbians (or confused heterosexuals), that they are lesbians trying to maintain some level of heterosexual privilege, that they are anti-feminist for sleeping with men, or that their bisexuality is an expression of "false consciousness" which could be overcome with the proper lesbian feminist indoctrination. As independent female sexuality is generally demonized in our sexist, erotophobic society, bisexual women are furthermore simply dismissed or pathologized.For feminists, lgbt activists, bi-curious individuals, and bisexual allies interested in issues of female sexual autonomy, this is an interesting text. Especially useful are the safer sex guidelines provided by Robyn Ochs. That said, I do wish that Orndoff would have interviewed at least one bisexual transgendered woman, but despite this oversight, this is anyway a compelling and informative sociological study.

Interesting reading.....
I enjoyed this book quite a bit.The questions were a bit repetative, butthat wasnt necessarily Bad, as the reader gets to see how different eachwoman's answers were. Think Bisexuality is Easily Defined?
In this book, I discovered the various ways women define their bisexuality: some by the capability of loving people regardless of gender, some by being attracted to people of either gender, and some by experience. It also showed that bisexuality is not a "new" thing, as manywould have us believe.The ages of these women range from 21 to (if Irecall correctly) late 50's.One woman is handicapped, two others are in athree-way marriage (to each other, with a man), one identifies as a lesbian(though acknowledges that she is attracted to both sexes) and doesn't trustwomen who identify strongly as bisexual.If you want to see the entirerainbow of sexuality, read this book.If you want to have your sexualityaffirmed, read this book.If you are just plain curious . . . read thisbook. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Sexual Behavior    2. Bisexual women    3. Bisexuality    4. Identity    5. Interviews    6. Lesbian Studies    7. Sociology    8. Sociology Of Women    9. Women's Studies - General    10. Bisexuals    11. Gender studies    12. Social Science / Gay Studies   

Editorial Review

Beneath its jovial, insouciant, sexy attitude, Jack Hart's Read more

Reviews (5)

Don't believe everything you read
This book, while it comes across as quite erotic, reads like a collection of letters to Penthouse.None of the stories ring true.None of the stories have that uncomfortable fumbling of first encounters, the nervousness of being caught.It reads like straight out porn.Fine.This "gets the job done" if you are looking for a literary Viagra but in no way are any of these stories any more than out and out fiction.Not a single word jumps off the page with any ounce of authenticity.They all seem plausible, but the manner in which they are written (and in some cases exagerated) made me feel completely manipulated.No one I know has ever had a first encounter with a "straight guy" that ever sounded like these.

From the Publisher
"Jack Hart, best known for his collections of real-life sexual adventures between men My First Time, My Biggest O, and Heat, has compiled a new anthology in which gay men describe in their own words the couplings they've had with men who did not seem on first appearance to be open to having gay sex. Among the surprising seductions detailed in this collection: A man initiates into gay sex his small town's biggest womanizer; a man drafted to entertain the groom-to-be during a bridal shower discovers just how open the upcoming marriage will be; a reporter interviewing a straight TV star (no names!) comes back with a titillating story; a military man tells of the one time in his career he let down his sexual guard--for the husband of his best friend; and an inexperienced college freshman finds that a straight-acting frat boy is both open-minded and openmouthed. Straight? is Jack Harts freshest collection and points out that indeed truth can be stranger--and hotter--than fiction. Review courtesy of Alyson Publications"--� zebraz

The mind games some guys play!
"Straight?" serves up some 50 true accounts of sexually straight-identified men who explore their "curiosity" about same-sex encounters and, in the process, challenges the validity of labels like "straight" and "gay." In most of these true narratives, the common thread is less the sexual labels we and others apply to us individually and more man's basic need (carnal or otherwise) for the touch of someone of the same gender. As someone myself identified as "straight" with some sexual experiences with other "straight" men, the turn-on is less sexual and more the feeling of simply being wanted. The stories in this compilation do more than offer some sizzling hot descriptions of man-to-man sex. They also ask the fundamental question if labels ("straight," "gay," "bi") are even relevant, why it seems (on both a private and societal level) that anything related to homosexuality prompts serious questions of one's sexual preferences and why anything related to same-gender interaction has anything to do with sex at all. In the end, does it really matter? For anyone not interested in such a debate, however, and is looking for nothing more than steamy literature, this book has just about anything that caters to any taste. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Erotica - General    2. Gay Studies    3. Gay men    4. Gay/Lesbian Nonfiction    5. Heterosexual men    6. Homosexuality    7. Love / Sex / Marriage    8. Sexual behavior    9. Social Science    10. United States    11. Modern fiction    12. Social Science / Gay Studies   

Reviews (2)

Things We Must Not Forget
This book made it clear that the performance of homosexual acts is sinful. Those with same-sex attractions carry daily the cross of a disordered condition they did not choose and science still doesn't know the cause of. Homosexuals who takes seriously the requirement to order their lives as best they can to live celibately should never forget that they are guilty of no sin for making these efforts, and are as infinitely loved by God as are all human beings. You do the best you can with the "hand you're dealt" in life, and in the end all will be well, exceedingly well.
This book is a gift.
I have really struggled with my thoughts and feelings about how to respond to a loved one who recently announced they were gay. I spent many hours considering how to engage in a way that was both loving and true to my own, strongly held, Christian beliefs.
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Subjects:  1. Christianity    2. Christianity - Christian Life - Family Relationships    3. Christianity - Pastoral Counseling    4. Gay Studies    5. Homosexuality    6. Pastoral Care And Counseling    7. Religion    8. Religion - Christian Life    9. Religious aspects    10. Sexuality & Gender Studies    11. Religion / Counseling   

Reviews (4)

Funny, poignant and vividly real
This is the latest edition of Alsion's series of "cartoonoramas"(her phrase)following the lives and loves of a series of lesbians who live in a place that looks suspisciously like upsatate New York. The stories are evolutionary-as are lives and focus around "Mo", a woman who resembles Ms. Bechtel herself. Most imprtantly however, the series and this edition especially are laced with sharp wit and warm humor as well as the "zeitgeist' as the reviewer above noted. As always, Bechdel's got the Zeitgeist's pulse!
Watching a cartoonist mature over the course of a career can be a real joy, and that's certainly been my experience with Alison Bechdel's most recent "Dykes to Watch Out For" collection.To my mind, it's a real shame that her work isn't syndicated on the comics page of general-circulation newspapers.Calling her work only of interest to the GLBT community means that a lot of folks are missing out on her real-life characters, fascinating plot twists, deft artwork, and wry interpretation of current affairs. FABULOUS!!!
Fun and wacky, as usual. I have her entire collection and can't wait for the next book. If any of you dykes out there want to find a storybook with strong Latino girl characters (could be dykes when they grow up) check out, DRUM, CHAVI, DRUM!/ TOCA, CHAVI, TOCA! Add this book to your Dykes to Watch out For collection or buy it for the children in your family. The feisty little girl isn't allowed to play Congas in the Miami Cuban Calle Ocho Festival because drumming is for boys! She struts her stuff and won't take "no" for an answer... i think this book is a first of its kind with an all Latino cast, written by a Cuban, illustrated by a Cuban and set in a Cuban community.Another super FUN book for all you lesbos out there!Read more

Subjects:  1. Comics & Cartoons    2. Gay/Lesbian Nonfiction    3. General    4. Humor    5. Lesbian Studies    6. Topic - Adult    7. Gay & Lesbian studies    8. Graphic novels    9. Humor / General   

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - General    2. Archaeology / Anthropology    3. Ethnic Studies - General    4. Gay Studies    5. Lesbian Studies    6. Middle East - General    7. Social Science    8. Sociology    9. Social Science / Anthropology / General   

Reviews (5)

Stories of Transformation
This book is a marvelously well selected collection of brief personal accounts of women who have loved both men and women, and who explain why they have felt more comfortable loving women.
A Great Resource Full of Heartfelt Stories
This is a book I have been telling people about for the last couple months. As a writer of lesbian novels myself, I have been constantly surprised to discover how many women seem to be living double lives: wife and mother by day--secret, internet-accessing, coming-out lesbian by night. When women email me to confide and ask advice (which I feel inadequate at giving!), I refer them to this book knowing that the stories of the women in FROM WEDDED WIFE TO LESBIAN LIFE will give them hope and ideas. This is a great help....
I was leaving my husband and starting a relationship with a woman when I met Deb Abbott online about 5 years ago. She told me about her book and I ran out to buy it. I saw myself in so many of the stories, and found that I wasn't the only one going through my situation. That relationship ended badly after 4 years, and I am now with a woman that is in the same position I was. I am re-reading Deb's book, and my girlfriend is also reading it. It is a bible to us. I can't thank Deb enough for writing this amazing book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Family    2. Family relationships    3. Gay & Lesbian    4. Gay/Lesbian Nonfiction    5. Lesbian Studies    6. Lesbians    7. Literary Criticism    8. Psychology    9. Social conditions    10. Sociology    11. United States   

Subjects:  1. Christianity    2. Christianity - Pastoral Counseling    3. Christianity - Pastoral Ministry    4. Church work with gays    5. Gay Studies    6. Gays    7. Homosexuality    8. Pastoral Care And Counseling    9. Pastoral counseling of    10. Religion    11. Religion - Pastoral Care / Counseling    12. Religious aspects    13. Christian ministry & pastoral activity    14. Gay & Lesbian studies   

Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. Gay men    3. Gay men in mass media    4. Gender Studies    5. Lesbian Studies    6. Lesbians in mass media    7. Mass media    8. Social Science    9. Sociology    10. United States    11. Literary Criticism & Collections / Gay & Lesbian   

Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. Individual Photographer    3. Photo Techniques    4. Photography    5. Subjects & Themes - Erotica    6. Subjects & Themes - Nudes    7. Erotic art   

Reviews (1)

Essential information about the causes of male and female homosexuality
This is a review of all significant research into the causes of homosexuality, both male and female.
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Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. General    3. Homosexuality    4. Human Sexuality    5. Life Sciences - Biology - General    6. Physiological Psychology    7. Psychobiology    8. Psychology    9. Science    10. Social Science    11. Sociology    12. Gay & Lesbian studies    13. Sexual behaviour   

Reviews (4)

Always My Child: A Parent's Guide to Understanding Your Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered or Questioning Son or Daughter
This is an honest and on the mark book for parents about LGBTQ children and teens. It addresses issues important to the LGBTQ son or daughter and gives practical advice to the parent about acceptance and understanding.

Excellent guide for EVERY parent
Kevin Jennings, Executive Director of GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) has co-authored the definitive book on guiding, understanding, and - hopefully - accepting in love your GLBTQ child.It is primarily targeted toward parents struggling to help and deal with their questioning or coming out teenage child.
An outstanding resource
This amazing guide will help parents navigate the challenges of connecting with a GLBTQ child and becoming an integral and supportive part of that child's life. With chapters on school harassment, drug abuse, and depression, this book also addresses the negative and sometimes self-destructive behaviors of our youth, but gives hope and tools to help heal these wounds. "Always My Child" is especially notable for its chapters on transgender issues and multicultural issues that previous guides didn't include. I was also excited about the chapter on youth questioning their sexuality (straight and gay and in-between), and how parents can be supportive in that as well, because this isn't something many acknowledge. Jennings and Shapiro have created a marvelous resource that will help not only parents, but anyone interested in helping our youth, both queer and nongay, create positive lives. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Family & Relationships    2. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    3. Family relationships    4. Family/Marriage    5. Gay Studies    6. Gay teenagers    7. Lesbian Studies    8. Life Stages - Adolescence - Sexuality    9. Parent and teenager    10. Parenting - General    11. Parents of sexual minority you    12. Parents of sexual minority youth    13. Sexuality    14. Social conditions    15. Advice on parenting    16. Family & Relationships / Sexuality    17. Marriage, family & other relationships    18. Sex & sexuality   

Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. Gender Studies    3. History    4. History: American    5. Homosexuality    6. Lesbian Studies    7. Religious aspects    8. Same-sex marriage    9. United States - General    10. Gay & Lesbian studies    11. History / United States / General    12. USA   

Editorial Review

The history of gay male erotic images is largely undocumented. Even when the material has been available, "good taste" and "common decency"--those concepts used to stop all talk about sex--have prevented their display. Thomas Waugh's full-length, profusely illustrated study is a breakthrough book that has information and analysis enough for three books. Thoughtful, smart, and well-written, Read more

Reviews (2)

Amazing Book
This book collects the amazing research the author has done on physique photography, magazines and gay porn of the 30s, 40s, and 50s. It is great stuff, presented with a smart and detailed analysis. The only downside is the format, a weird and pricey mix of scholarly tome and coffeetable book. With the boom in "visual culture" and gay studies, it's a pity Cambridge has never brought this out in paper: it would be a surefire hit.

WOW
This is truly a great book..especially for vintage gay porn buffs...Its written and produces with an college text book feel.... whichon one hand.. is good.. gives it a lot of depth.. and smarts.. but.. with the $75 price tag.. i was a bit dissapointed.. was hoping for some really great quality photos.. while the photo's quality arent bad at all. quite clear and sharp. was hoping for something along the lines of art book quality...so ifyou looking for an art coffee table book.. this really isnt one.. but if you r looking for indepth analysis (still with loads of pictures) of early gay porn.. then this is for U!!!!!!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cinema/Film: Book    2. Film & Video - General    3. Gay Studies    4. Gay erotic photography    5. Gay men    6. General    7. History    8. Homosexuality in motion pictur    9. Homosexuality in motion pictures    10. Photography Of Specific Subjects    11. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    12. Portraits    13. Special Subjects In Motion Pictures    14. Literary Criticism & Collections / Gay & Lesbian    15. Photographs: collections   

Reviews (15)

Informative but alarmist.
I like to eat brown rice and tofu, I am comfortable with alternative family structures including families with more than 2 parents, I live in the Bay Area, I plan on having a home birth, I drink herbal tea, I occasionally I even do yoga. Yes, it's true, I'm almost a hippie.
Some helpful pregnancy advice but too alternative
Unfortunately the politics of this book are a turn off, the author has little regard for the conventional family model of two biological parents being bonded to child

Highly Recommended!
This was the best resource out there for me and my partner. It was an excellent reference book, with the most useful information being about the process of conceiving, tracking your cycles, and issues like how to time insemination if you're using frozen sperm vs. fresh sperm, etc. Read more

Subjects:  1. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    2. Gay/Lesbian Nonfiction    3. General    4. Lesbian Studies    5. Pregnancy & Childbirth    6. Social Science    7. Women's Studies - General    8. Pregnancy, birth & baby care    9. Social Science / Lesbian Studies   

Reviews (2)

Great book for mental health providers
For anyone interested in learning how to deal with gay/lesbian clients, this is a terrific guide with case studies, internet resources, and in-depth information about the issues facing gays/lesbians in today's society.

Excellent guide!
This is an excellent guide for psychotherapy with gay and lesbian clients!Read more

Subjects:  1. Counseling    2. Counseling of    3. Gay Studies    4. Gays    5. Human Sexuality    6. Lesbians    7. Psychology    8. Psychopathology - Compulsive Behavior    9. Psychotherapy    10. Psychotherapy - General    11. Counselling    12. Gay & Lesbian studies    13. Psychology & Psychiatry / Psychotherapy   

Reviews (8)

A Vital Guide to the Changing Legal Landscape
Attorney Burda has done the impossible, writing a "black-letter law" treatise in an easy-to-read and enjoyable style.
Good For Students
Ms. Burda's book provides guidance and training for the law student seeking to learn about a cutting edge nuance of estate-planning.With crystal clear language and outstanding organization, a law student finds him/herself wishing his/her law school professors followed Ms. Burda's instructional paradigm.This book is a must read for anyone seeking a career helping others plan for retirement.

Very insightful, very well-written
This book is an excellent resource for attorneys as well as non-legally educated persons. The book covers all issues that a person would need to take into consideration in creating an estate/living plan for a same-sex couple. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Estate Planning    2. Estates & Trusts    3. Family Law - General    4. Gay Studies    5. Gay couples    6. Homosexuality    7. Law    8. Legal Reference / Law Profession    9. Legal status, laws, etc    10. Legal status, laws, etc.    11. Personal Finance - Financial Planning    12. United States    13. Law / General    14. Property, real estate, land & tenancy law    15. USA   

Editorial Review

During middle age, after 25 years of happy marriage to a man,Carren Strock fell in love with a woman. After a period of intenseconfusion and pain, Strock came to accept her sexuality and realizethat there were other women who discovered lesbianism in the context of aheterosexual marriage.This book is based on interviews that Strockconducted with more than 100 women who had that experience--60 percent of whom were betweenthe ages of 36 and 55--as well as their husbands, children, andlovers.Some women in this situation have remained in the closet, eitherrepressing their desires or keeping their affairs secret.Others havecome out to husbands and friends and been able to incorporate theirlesbianism into their marriages.Others have ended their marriages. The very personal voices in this book remind us that most women whocame of age before the relatively tolerant present did so in a culturein which lesbianism was not regarded as a healthy sexual possibilitybut as a shameful perversion. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

At last!
Married with 5 kids, (the two youngest just adopted), I fell in love with this woman... Having a difficult time with my parents accepting my adopted girls... and then, being driven out of the closet by my husband... being threaten by my parents, brothers and ex to loose custody of my kids, I was between hell and heaven beliving I was the only crazy mother going through this... then this book came into my life... it became an embrace... the only shoulder to cry on, my mirrow... where things got into perspective, and I could breath and take a break at last... This book, with all those women sharing deep feelings, became my only support.
I ah Like A..
I ah Likea De stories..Is good for women to have somewhere to go..To talk. This book gives womens stories and they make upa der own minds..But for real, they talk and tell you their pain and feelings and who knew that these women were out there..There is plenty of good research..Don't be a bumblehead..It's got hearT-Wrenching stories(I love ya C. Strock!)..Muthas..Don't be hatin'..

Into the light
With this book, Carren Strock brings one of the least visible segments of society into view: those for whom the book is named.By sharing openly and honestly her own experiences and those of a wide cross-section of women who are or have been married to men but love women, she shows the myriad ways these women, their families and lovers live this reality for which no societal guidelines or examples exist, and no serious discussion was available before the publication of this book.As for this reader, finding and reading this book, and sharing it with my husband, honestly saved my sanity if not my life. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. Gender Studies    3. Lesbian Studies    4. Lesbians    5. Married people    6. Married women    7. Social Science    8. Sociology    9. Wives    10. Social Science / Gay Studies