Book Description

Customer Reviews (12)

A Less Interesting Re-Statement of City of Night
John Rechy's 1963 CITY OF NIGHT was a shocker in its day, an episodic collage of metro-area male prostitution, sex, and self-destruction written in a style that echoed Jack Kerouac's beat literature.Although dated by slang, changing mores, and the AIDS epidemic, it still bears reading today as a portrait ofgay street life in the pre-Stonewall era.NUMBERS, Rechy's second novel, is quite another matter.

NUMBERS is essentially CITY OF NIGHT repeated, but without the "shock of the new," with less style, and with considerably less interest.The extremely episodic story concerns Johnny Rio, a Los Angeles street hustler who several years earlier overdosed on the lifestyle and escaped to a solitary life in Arizona; now he's back "for just ten days" and, not unexpectedly, finds himself drawn back into the malestrom.

There's nothing here that Rechy hasn't said elsewhere and often quite a bit better, and NUMBERS feels much less a novel than a series of strung-together sexual fantasies lacking significant point.In this instance, the result is less interesting than annoying; readers interested in Rechy's work should pick up a copy of CITY OF NIGHT, his first and finest work, instead.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL
... Sheer Genius ...Sacred Text ...A Masterpiece of Modern American Literature ...A Book That Changed My Life ...My Favorite Novel ....My Favorite John Rechy Novel...

All this describes how I feel about *Numbers* -- but nothing I could type in this space would come close to fully expressing my profound love for this phenomenal work and its talented author.

While I am sympathetic to some of the confusion and frustration expressed by reviewers who have found only darkness and despair in its pages, I am more horrified by the lack of attention paid to the themes of liberation that resound throughout this story.For me, *Numbers* will always be beautiful and timeless.A tale of wonder filled with ageless glamour and promise.

In case you're wondering if my perspective comes from sharing in a particular "generational" or "environmental" link with Rechy himself, no, it does not.I was far from being born at the time the novel was written, and I have never (and in fact never could have) experienced or participated in many of its rituals.

However, *Numbers* is about much more than a series of sexual acts.It is the quintessential American journey of identity and one that is gloriously and unabashedly capable of contextualizing the experience of self-discovery with a sense of human vitality and spirit that acknowledges sexuality.This achievement alone puts *Numbers* above not only its contemporary works, but on a level that continues to evade many writers today.

Read *Numbers* not as a description of "days gone by," or a depiction of specific things you cannot do or would find harmful, but as a story filled with hope, possibility, and the power of finding yourself.Should you follow Johnny Rio's example or replicate his experience?Not if you think that means committing sexual suicide.*Numbers* may delve into themes of darkness and death, but it needn't be seen as a necessarily "fatalistic" novel.

Why not be inspired by Johnny Rio's bravery instead of disgusted by his recklessness?Follow him not by mistaking exploration for degradation, but in seeking (as he does) to learn ways in which you are deceiving yourself or playing needless games with others.Anyone can do that if, like Johnny Rio, they can ultimately commit themselves to the act of personal discovery -- in whatever form it may take.

Gross and disgusting
When I came out to my family an older family friend of my mother, who is gay, told me to read this book because he said it was his favorite. I eventually got around to it and I couldn't finish it because it was full of people acting like pigs in their sex lives. I looked at the date and it is a very old book, written before AIDS - way before AIDS. No one seems to treat each other like humans. Everyon is just out to be a player. This left me with a weird feeling and I felt sorry for my mom's friend. Guess what? He never had a lover and he is now in his fifties. It isn't hard to figure out why if this was his favorite book.

an other good book John Rechy
a must have for the John Rechy fan. it may take others a little to get in to the book but man once you do get in to it you are hooked.

Pathological Cruising
I've recently re-read this book and it's a great story of pathological cruising for gay sex. It's a short, intense look at the gay world pre-AIDS and some of the problems that gay men faced at that time. It's not as good as "City of Night" but it's worth a read especially if you are gay. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Disappointing
After seeing the reviews and reading so much about John Rechy's novels I feelthat maybe I missed something that other readers 'got'. I found this novel to be confusing from the outset. He introduced too many characters and had them not only all talking to each other - but Rechy would also throw in tidbits of feelings and why this person felt the way he did. I found it difficult to keep track of who was talking to who! It seemed the entire book consisted mainly of these 4 people talking, talking. Too me the story didn't move anywhere. I finally started skimming the pages looking for something more that the unending conversation. Finally I read the last chapter in which the same characters were still conversing! Extremely disappointing and a time-waster!

A dark and engrossing look into the leather bar scene
"Rushes" tells the stoyr of one night spent at a seddy leather/uniform night club in an unspecified warehouse district along the waterfront. It's a dark place, filled with sexual odors, drugs, hidden faces and lusts, and dark corners wherre anything and everything could be happening.Four friends - Endore, Chas, Bill and Don - spend the evening trying to find the one person to go home with.Endore is a columnist who writes about the gay lifestyle and his belief that there is no such thing as love in the gay world; Chas views the rushes as his hunting grounds, where he is the ultimate prize; Bill wants to see how many men he can connect with but his pickiness sometimes cluds his own judgement of people; and Don is the oldest of the group, feeling his age everytime he invites himself to join his friends at the Rushes.

Each has his own insecurities which come out in full force on this particular evening.Sides are taken when a woman named Lyndy - a fashion designer - is grudginly allowed into their macho, all-male domain.Her appearance and her banter act as a catalyst between Chas and Endore, alternately setting them against on another or forcing them to join the same side.Later, a drag queen and her female companion cause a stir near the entrance to the Rushes which forces Endore to take a closer look at how gay men have been forced to find places where they can be themselves, and any intrusion into that world is angrily looked down upon.This novel also touches on ageism and the fear of the gay community with the character of Don - who feels that no one wants anything to do with him because he's slightly older; he remembers the days before clubowners put up signs such as "Under 35s Only" when everyone went out to have fun and to enjoy each others company.Sure, everyone had to keep their sexual preferences hidden for fear of the police, but nowadays, you had to creep around to avoid the violent, name-calling youths would would very easily bash in your head with fist or pipes.

To get the feel of spending the night with this group in the Rushes, author John Rechy tells the story in present time, allowing the reader to feel and to see what each character does as if he/she were with them.Also, the chapters jump from character to character, almost giving the reader a sense of the darkness, the confusion and the electric atmosphere of the place.A dark and engrossing look into the leather bar scene.

Glory! Glory!Ahh Men!
A novel of grandeur in style, structure, and substance.Theatrical, ritualistic, and elegant!

Filled with insight, rage, power, and beauty, _Rushes_ is a novel that deserves high praise, even among its brilliant predecessors.Rechy's other literary works deserve elevation to a class by themselves, and this novel is no exception.From the careful highlighting of a bar's most subtle nuances, to a sophisticated social critique that remains unmatched and unanswered even today, _Rushes_ exhibits a complexity and depth that allows it to remain both contemporary and classic.

Drenched in metaphor, symbolism, wit, and charm, _Rushes_ is a sensual, exotic delight of a novel.Even as the politics and passion may challenge you, the atmosphere will seduce you.Face your desires, fears, friends, and enemies.Breathe deep and indulge yourself._Ruhes_ is a novel worthy of your consideration and admiration.

A WorldAgo
John Rechy has been around for years and written many novels relating to life on the fringe. In Rushes he creates a dark forbidding and harsh world that repelled and excited this reader at various times. The characters are slightly cliche and generally not very nice. It is still a good read charged with high sexual tension and what now could be regarded as a histoical account of life in the late 1970's.

The novel of depth
Late 70's.Four men.Gay sex bar;Rushes.John Rechy approachs them brutaly,cooly,but gently.Yes,gentlythan amyl.And Rechy will leave readers feel unsubstantial. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (3)

Important as a Social Document of the Era
Described as "A Documentary," THE SEXUAL OUTLAW is an unexpected construction and as such it is an extremely, extremely difficult work to describe--part fact, part opinion, part autobiography, and part fiction--and often blurring the distinction between the four.

Published in 1977, the book is essentially a snapshot of the underbelly of the Los Angeles community through John Rechy moved in that decade.The fictional material concerns Jim, a man that the rest of the book encourages us to read as Rechy himself, who travels a stream of sexual contacts over the course of a long weekend: sex at the beach, in the park, on the street, in the bar, in the alley.And always running one step ahead of a highly hypocritical society and police department that is forever in hot pursuit to arrest, eradicate, and destroy him and his kind forever.

These are the "sexual outlaws."The remaining portions of the book veers from sado-masochism to double sexual standards to corrupt police officers to newspaper headlines--and all, ultimately, in an effort to explain why a person such as "Jim" would actively select such a nihilistic way of life.And Rechy does indeed have a point; to a certain extent, the choice is between rebelling against or being buried by the status quo.

In one sense, the book will--or at least should--make your blood boil in its highly accurate depiction of the horrific repression homosexuals have faced in the past and indeed might again face in the future.It also conveys a sense of the excitement of the illicit sexual chase.At the same time, Rechy does not spare you the emptiness and ugliness of such a lifestyle; indeed, he makes such aspects of wholesale promiscuity extremely apparent.

In the end, Rechy seems to be saying that when the choice is between rebelling or being buried, he prefers to rebel.But there is a catch in here: he presents a street-sex lifestyle as the only possible rebellion and to a certain extent tries to posit his own choices as a commonplace.

At one point in the book, Rechy states that he has had over 7000 sexual contacts up that point--which breaks down to an average of about one contact per day for twenty years.I don't doubt that such people exist and I don't doubt that some of them are homosexual, but I have extreme doubts about how statistically typical this would be of any segment of the population, male or female, gay or straight.

Because of this Rechy tends to undercut his own argument, and a whiff of self-justification begins to enter the mix as the book progresses.That aside, the adventures of Jim become repetitive and seem less included than to make a point than as expertly written pornography.I need hardly add that the advent of AIDS and changing attitudes and laws about homosexuality have left the book extremely dated.

Even so, this is in some respects the best of Rechy's work, very direct, passionate, clearly written in white-hot anger; it is remarkably driven in tone, furious in execution.I would not really recommend it to a casual reader, but I think it is important as a social document, and it deserves to be read on that basis.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

A Journey to the End of the Night
Like many of Rechy's books, THE SEXUAL OUTLAW is powerful, fascinating, and very depressing.The themes present in his novels are here in this non-fiction work - the power of physical beauty, narcissm, sex as liberation, unfulfilled desire, etc. Along with a narrative of one hustler's quest for validation through his sexual encounters, Rechy threads in a treatise on what it means to be homosexual in twentieth century America.Much of what he says is relevant to the twenty-first century as well, as the current battle over same-sex marriage attests.

Those looking for explicit sex will find it in abundance here.Rechy pulls no punches in his depiction of homoerotic love.Yet he is wise enough to see the sadness in the "sexhunt," and his "character" Jim, we know, will never find that elusive thing for which he searches, the combination of sexual gratification and personal intimacy.None of us will find it.We hate Jim for his narcissm and his superficiality but admire his rebel stance.He is a man-loving man not ashamed of the fact.

Rechy's accounts of police corruption concerning gay men and the hours spent nabbing "sexhunters" that could otherwise be spent apprehending murderers, rapists, and thieves are enough to make one's blood boil.And I love his comments on gay sensibility.But I find his whole stance on S&M somewhat puzzling and hypocritical.While no advocate of or participant in that particular sexual lifestyle, I fail to see the difference between the physical pain inflicted by "masters" upon "slaves" and the psychological pain engendered in the course of the sexhunt.Indeed it would seem the latter pain would be the more enduring and damaging.

This is an important book, more than twenty-five years old, but still relevant.

The last days of Sodom
A masterpiece of Gay literature, broke so many taboos before its time.I remember reading this novel in the late 70s before AIDSbecame prevelant,when so many queers walked the backstreets and alleys not tomention bathhouses in there search for free sex and lust. This is amonumental exploration into the psyche of homosexuality and being wanted byall means .necessary. I cant wait for the movie! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Not worth the time
This book is simply terrible, the writing is poor, there is no description about the characters, what they see, what they feel. It reads like a newspaper article or some sort of wacky lecture. The voice is very distant from the actions. The author is often patronizing and clinical in his descriptions, which really doesn't make for good erotica.

a long erotic gossip
Have you ever had a chat with an elderly gay male friend talking diffusedly about his long past escapades?
If so you shall have quite an accurate idea of the content of this book.

The storyline -hard to believe but there is one- centres on young Jason's encounters as well as those of his friends. Some are told in detail, some very quickly, to the point of being sketchy, but everyone is graphic.

This novel is not for those who do not wish to read a lot of explicit and crude sex scenes. For those who wish, it is arousing, therefore it achieves the main goal of this genre.

There are some flaws though:
- an erotic novel should not span over a long time: it does not really matter how old the character is at the beginning, but we should not be able to see him growing older; we should not be reminded of our own mortality but this novel does it and has left me wistful and not excited. Jason is 19 at the beginning and fifty at the end: bad bad bad.
- Mr Butler is clearly obsessed with some fetishes and we are presented with each and everyone again and again.
- The ending is very subdued and unsatisfying: the reader of a porn must be allowed to say goodbye to the characters either in the glory of a spectacular orgy or when he finds true love. Realistic endings in this genre are saddening and out of place.

Luscious, Lurid, and .....well....MEGA HOT!!
This will be a simple review.THIS BOOK IS PURE, UNADULTERATED, LURID, AND EXPLICIT FILTH...from the first page until the last.Is it total fantasy?...yes!!....Is it truly utopian?....yes!!...does it cater to just about every gay man fantasies?..yes!! HOT, HOT, HOT,!!!...This is one of the best pieces of porn I have ever read.It is HARDLY BRILLIANT, but it has attained its purpose...to be as purient as possible.WELL DONE!! ... Read more

Book Description
Explore the titillating world of gay male video pornography in One-Handed Histories: The Eroto-Politics of Gay Male Video Pornography. Author John Burger has compiled years of research on gay male films and videos and covers such interesting topics as:

• gay male porn history and theory
• pre-AIDS and post-AIDS awareness
• the portrayal of safe sex in videos
• popular memory
• gay history
• porn video production
  
  Burger contends that gay male video pornography (GMVP) is “a warehouse of our cultural heritage and memory, as well as an important site for the production and modification of this heritage and memory.” He looks at gay porn from social and historical perspectives, using popular memory as the starting point.
  
  As a form of popular memory, gay porn allows for numerous revisions and re-writings of American history, which has somewhat excluded gay men. One-Handed Histories assists the reader in placing GMVP in its correct social and historical setting and thus removes much of its stigma as obscene or useless.
  
  Gay scholars and even gay porn consumers will enjoy the alternative readings of these films; readings which might instill an interest and pride in gay male history. General gay male readers will discover in One-Handed Histories gay male sexual trends from the late 60s on and how this gay male history is documented by pornography.

Customer Reviews (4)

great sex with two penises!
This book really TELLS you how to have sex, even when neither of the two people having the sex has a vagina.Even if all you have is TWO PENISES, you can still manage to have GREAT SEX!I love two-penised sex, and as someone who has two-penised sex on a regular basis, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK!You'll never think about two penises in quite the same way, I guarantee it!

Smut Matters
Already dated when it was published in 1995, this engaging book would benefit from a new edition. Pornography, almost by definition, goes stale quickly, and too many of Burger's examples have disappeared into obscurityjust as the performers themselves have either retired or passed away. Inaddition, some of the trends and sub genres he cites have either becomepasse or commonplace while new ones have emerged.

Burger's study began asa thesis, and unfortunately, he bogs down and relies too much on theaccouterments of academic writing-especially something bizarre andill-suited from anthropology called the Popular Memory Group-as if theoryserves to validate Burger's own interpretations. He doesn't need theory,his discussion rings true without it, and he would have done well to relyonly upon his own keen powers of observation and analysis. Stripped of itsfalse-note academic paraphernalia and given more current examples, thisbook could be some sort of minor classic. It goes a long way towardexplaining and demystifying both pornography and gay men's involvement withit without in any way de-eroticizing the video fantasies themselves.

Despite its flaws, this is a lively little book that tackles manymatters of great interest to gay men and gay culture.

An insightful, cohesive and intelligent book.
Burger offers fresh insight on the social and cultural ramifications of gay male pornography, describing how the videos reflect and influence the eras in which they are made -- from the "closeted" early days ofgay erotica, through the wild 70s and early 80s, and on through thepost-AIDS period. Though he takes a scholarly approach to his subjectmatter, the book is in no way pretentious. Burger's writing style is veryaccessible and often humorous. Hense, you don't have to be an expert toappreciate what he has to say.

An comprehensive, interesting study of gay male porn
Burger exhibits considerable knowledge of his subject matter as he explores the social and cultural ramifications of gay male pornography. This book is informative and interesting without being preachy. Though itis a scholarly book, it is written in a very accesible -- and oftenhumorous -- style. You don't have to be a gay porn expert to appreciateBurger's fresh, original ideas. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Modern Language Review, published by Modern Humanities Research Association on January 1, 2003. The length of the article is 680 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: 'Deep Play': John Gay and the Invention of Modernity.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
Author: John Richardson
Publication: The Modern Language Review (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 2003
Publisher: Modern Humanities Research Association
Volume: 98Issue: 1Page: 189-190

Article Type: Book Review, Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description
This book, called a “landmark in the fields of alcoholism and homosexuality,” is enormously informative and well organized, with numerous practical and useful suggestions and guidelines on the treatment options available for gay people with alcohol problems. Leading professionals analyze approaches that are being implemented in providing services for this group of men and women, and describe programs and treatment protocols that have had reasonable measured success in different parts of the country. ... Read more

Book Description
A book certain to appeal to many readers. Experts discuss the intricacies of maintaining a positive affirming relationship. Entire sections of this large and impressive 300-page anthology cover the gamut of gay relationships, including what can go right--or what can go wrong, where to look for lovers, what it takes to maintain a gay relationship, how to solve problems in a relationship, difficulties in role expectations, depression, excessive drinking, and much more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Outdated information
About the editor:
John P. De Cecco, Ph.D is a Professor of Psychology and Human Sexuality Studies and Director of the Center for Research and Education in Sexuality (CERES) at San Francisco State University.
He has been Editor of the Journal of Homosexuality since 1977. He is also Senior Editor (Human Sexuality) for the Haworth Press, Inc., and the Harrington Park Press, Inc. His current
work consists of the analysis of the presuppositions in biomedical and sociocultural conceptions of homosexuality, explication of the essentialist-constructionist debate in homosexual research and the use of current knowledge of homosexuality to critique heterosexual institutions. Please
note, Haworth Press publishes the Journal of Homosexuality; Harrington Press is a subsidiary of The Haworth Press.
About the contributors:
The majority of the contributors are educators and researchers in the field of human sexuality.
The body of the research was done in the United States mostily in California. One study is from Canada; one is from Australia. The studies were pubished originally between 1976 and 1986.
About the book:
The editor has compiled a series of articles that appeared in the Journal of Homosexuality. The articles are grouped under five major headings: Introduction, Where to look for lovers, Whom to Choose as a Lover, How to maintain a Gay Relationship, How to Solve Problems in Gay Relationships. Of the nineteen articles,eleven studied gaymale couples, 7 compared gay and
lesbian relationships and one comparied homosexual behavior to heterosexual behavior. ... Read more

Book Description
Something happened in the 1990s, something dramatic and irreversible. A group of people long considered a moral menace and an issue previously deemed unmentionable in public discourse were transformed into a matter of human rights, discussed in every institution of American society. Marriage, the military, parenting, media and the arts, hate violence, electoral politics, public school curricula, human genetics, religion: Name the issue, and the the role of gays and lesbians was a subject of debate. During the 1990s, the world seemed finally to turn and take notice of the gay people in its midst. In The World Turned, distinguished historian and leading gay-rights activist John D’Emilio shows how gay issues moved from the margins to the center of national consciousness during the critical decade of the 1990s.

In this collection of essays, D’Emilio brings his historian’s eye to bear on these profound changes in American society, culture, and politics. He explores the career of Bayard Rustin, a civil rights leader and pacifist who was openly gay a generation before almost everyone else; the legacy of radical gay and lesbian liberation; the influence of AIDS activist and writer Larry Kramer; the scapegoating of gays and lesbians by the Christian Right; the gay-gene controversy and the debate over whether people are "born gay"; and the explosion of attention focused on queer families. He illuminates the historical roots of contemporary debates over identity politics and explains why the gay community has become, over the last decade, such a visible part of American life.


... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The two sides of D'Emilio for the new millenium
This book reflects D'Emilio's roles as gay history scholar and policy director at the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF). It resembles both his rigorous scholarly "Sexual Politics,..." and his social commenting "Making Trouble." This book will be both a challenge and a pleasure to everyday gay folks and nerdy queer theorists. The book is a compilation of essays regarding gay rights in the 90s, civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, and other such topics. Some people may not like the scrapbook feel here. D'Emilio chose to start the work with the heady academic stuff and that may scare off readers who will really enjoy the rest of it. Many of the entries are speeches he gave and they become repetitive after a while. Still, he does a great job of assessing gay rights in the last decade and summarizing the struggle over the past half century. D'Emilio is ever the counterintuitive thinker, but that's exactly what open-minded gay people need to be reading. A lot of the chapters center upon boys, but D'Emilio still maintains his status as a very pro-feminist, anti-androcentric gay male theorist. He does include this chapter about his changing sex life which implies that he and his partner are celibate; a fact that I highly doubt. However, his discussion about NGLTF is wonderful; there hasn't been enough analysis of gay institutions. At times, the book is kinda preachy and defensive. Still, I'm glad he opens a space for gay work that is not as light as "The Advocate" but not as heavy as Foucault. He still shows that he's a sharp progressive thinker and many ppl would benefit by getting their hands on this book. ... Read more

Book Description
Something happened in the 1990s, something dramatic and irreversible. A group of people long considered a moral menace and an issue previously deemed unmentionable in public discourse were transformed into a matter of human rights, discussed in every institution of American society. Marriage, the military, parenting, media and the arts, hate violence, electoral politics, public school curricula, human genetics, religion: Name the issue, and the the role of gays and lesbians was a subject of debate. During the 1990s, the world seemed finally to turn and take notice of the gay people in its midst. In The World Turned, distinguished historian and leading gay-rights activist John D’Emilio shows how gay issues moved from the margins to the center of national consciousness during the critical decade of the 1990s.

In this collection of essays, D’Emilio brings his historian’s eye to bear on these profound changes in American society, culture, and politics. He explores the career of Bayard Rustin, a civil rights leader and pacifist who was openly gay a generation before almost everyone else; the legacy of radical gay and lesbian liberation; the influence of AIDS activist and writer Larry Kramer; the scapegoating of gays and lesbians by the Christian Right; the gay-gene controversy and the debate over whether people are "born gay"; and the explosion of attention focused on queer families. He illuminates the historical roots of contemporary debates over identity politics and explains why the gay community has become, over the last decade, such a visible part of American life.


... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The two sides of D'Emilio for the new millenium
This book reflects D'Emilio's roles as gay history scholar and policy director at the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF). It resembles both his rigorous scholarly "Sexual Politics,..." and his social commenting "Making Trouble." This book will be both a challenge and a pleasure to everyday gay folks and nerdy queer theorists. The book is a compilation of essays regarding gay rights in the 90s, civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, and other such topics. Some people may not like the scrapbook feel here. D'Emilio chose to start the work with the heady academic stuff and that may scare off readers who will really enjoy the rest of it. Many of the entries are speeches he gave and they become repetitive after a while. Still, he does a great job of assessing gay rights in the last decade and summarizing the struggle over the past half century. D'Emilio is ever the counterintuitive thinker, but that's exactly what open-minded gay people need to be reading. A lot of the chapters center upon boys, but D'Emilio still maintains his status as a very pro-feminist, anti-androcentric gay male theorist. He does include this chapter about his changing sex life which implies that he and his partner are celibate; a fact that I highly doubt. However, his discussion about NGLTF is wonderful; there hasn't been enough analysis of gay institutions. At times, the book is kinda preachy and defensive. Still, I'm glad he opens a space for gay work that is not as light as "The Advocate" but not as heavy as Foucault. He still shows that he's a sharp progressive thinker and many ppl would benefit by getting their hands on this book. ... Read more

Product Description
A full-length study of the poetry and drama of eighteenth-century writer, John Gay. Includes index, bibliography and citations. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description
Learn how Charles Pierce achieved stardom and became one of the most famous female impersonators of all time!

Charles Pierce (1926--1999) was an internationally known and highly successful female impersonator, known for his vivid portrayals of Bette Davis, Katherine Hepburn, and Mae West. This book offers a candid look at a career that spanned over fifty years--from his humble start at the Pasadena Playhouse, to his sold-out shows in San Francisco.

From Drags to Riches provides a rich and colorful history of Charles Pierce. In this insightful and moving volume, Pierce?s friend John Wallraff offers valuable insights about the little-known man behind the makeup and captures the essence of what drag stardom is really like.

This informative, imaginative, and sexually provocative book contains:

• stories of how famous Hollywood icons shaped Charles Pierce?s life and his act
• Pierce?s history, from his humble beginnings at the Pasadena Playhouse to his sold-out shows in San Francisco and beyond
• a look at Pierce?s private life
• an examination of the price of fame--how successes and failures shape any performer
  
  Using the words of Charles Pierce himself, adding a dash of humor, mixing in fascinating insights, and sprinkling in juicy stories of love, lust, and sex, this book is a melting pot of information about a well-loved but sometimes misunderstood man.

Customer Reviews (3)

Witless and Tasteless
Charles Pierce did the get last laugh on his "friend," author Wallraff.This book is clearly an attempt for Wallraff to make some quick bucks and cash in on his relationship with Pierce.Wallraff drags (pun intended) up ancient, petty and no-so-petty arguments out of the distant past to discredit Pierce as a human being.Pierce would not the first show biz figure who didn't measure up so well offstage.How unfortunate that this book wasn't done as an in-depth examination of the California gay world through the eyes of those who were there.The publisher should be ashamed of themselves for putting this out--the editing is almost nonexistent, with lots of repetitive phrases and terrible journalism (Pierce's involvement in a tragic suicide is glossed over--surely some police records or newspaper reports exist).I like a juicy scene as much as the next guy, but the sexual interludes here are downright pathetic because they have nothing to do with Pierce's career and are only an exercise in badly written pornography.I am glad that I have my memories of Pierce, which I will cling to as some of the best nights I ever spent in cabarets.As for this book, I will remember it as one of the worst pieces of trash I ever wasted my money on.

Amateur Night at the Drag Show
Written by a long-time friend and fellow performer who seems to have serious unresolved issues about laboring in Pierce's shadow, this amateurish look at the famous entertainer isn't so much a cohesive biography as it is a haphazard memoir cobbled together from press clippings, boozy reminsces of barroom nights, transcripts of Pierce's act and excerpts from an autobiography Pierce never completed. Adding to the "kitchen sink" effect are a number of "fly-on-the-wall" descriptions of totally extraneous sexual interludes, that border on porn. For die-hard Pierce fans, this book is better than nothing. But not much.

Unfortunately, you should not buy this book
I wish I could recommend this book, but I cannot.I was left with the impression that the author was seeking his own 15 minutes of fame by writing this rather than trying to truly chronicle Mr. Pierce's life and career.If you feel you need to read this book, please save your money and get it from the library.Then, find a VHS copy of "Charles Pierce at the Ballroom" and enjoy Charles at his best. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

I remain an immoralist
Although published in a special series, Jeffrey Escoffier's book gives a fair picture of the greatest economist of all times.
He draws heavily on R. Skidelsky's first 2 volumes of his magisterial biography of Keynes (the 3rd volume was not published when this book was edited), but he summarizes excellently Keynes's life and work.

Economically speaking, Keynes's core message is that in times of economic depression, governments should intervene in the economic process and boost people's income through public work programs. This stimulus is multiplied because part of the injected money is spent again and again.
In his characteristic sarcastic style Keynes lambastes the `love of the possession of money' as a disgusting morbidity. For him, thrift is a semi-pathological propensity. Enterprise is the creative force of the economy: the creation of goods that contribute to the pleasure of human interaction and aesthetic satisfaction.
Keynes saw the gold standard as a barbarous, naïve and unrealistic relic, surrendering the price level and the business cycle to the US Fed (holder of the bulk of the world's gold supply). Escoffier tells us that the gold exchange standard (use of convertible currency instead of gold as a reserve) was first adopted by the Indian government.

Keynes's famous phrase `In the long run we are all dead' has its roots in his probability theory. He stressed the political and ethical limitations of `long-term' notions in order to justify policies that are harmful in the short run: `Economists set themselves too easy a task if in the tempestuous seasons they can only tell us that when the storm is long past the ocean is flat again.'

Ethically, Keynes was influenced by the philosophy of G.E. Moore: `personal affections and aesthetic enjoyments include all the greatest goods we can image.' Keynes's life and loves were a reaction against the puritanical Victorian moral attitude. During a great part of his life Keynes was an active homosexual without the slightest guilt. He even had casual sex with male street prostitutes.

His global view of mankind was elitist: `Civilization was a thin and precarious crust erected by the personality and the will of a very few.'

Jeffrey Escoffier's book shows us Keynes as an immoralist, sexually in the Victorian sense, and economically in the classical sense.

Not to be missed.

N.B. I do not agree with the author that Wittgenstein and Heidegger were the greatest philosophers of the 20th century. I believe Einstein, Heisenberg, Russell and Popper were much more important.

Keynes was bisexual/gay up to 1922 and straight thereafter
Escoffier(E)does an average job in analyzing Keynes's economics and politics for a young adult just starting out in college.There are some inaccuracies relating to Keynes's sexual orientation over his life span.First,Keynes,like his brother and sister,was sent away from home to board at schools and colleges where the instructors and staff were primarily gay men and women.In such an environment it should come as no surprise that he would adopt a similar lifestyle.Keynes was never gay.A more accurate description of Keynes up till 1922 was that he was gay/bisexual.Keynes met Lydia Lopokova in 1919.In 1922,he started to date her more and more frequently.They married in 1925.Keynes was straight from that time on.The best book on their relationship is "Lydia and Maynard"(1989).The publisher is Scribners.Escoffier presents noreliable evidence that Keynes continued agay or bisexual lifestyle after 1924.Given the very negative reception to Keynes's marriage by his former male sexual partners,the evidence is overwhelming that Keynes went straight.The subtitle of this book,"Lives of Notable Gay Men and Lesbians",is somewhat misleading.

A well rounded Maynard Keynes
Escoffier's book, part of a series called Lives of Notable Gay Men and Lesbians, admirably recaps the career of John Maynard Keynes, practical man, entrepreneur, aesthete, homosexual (well, probably)and, least I forget, the most important economist of the twentieth century.

The series, so far as I can tell, aims to provide biographies of prominent gay people targeted at bright adolescents. Escoffier's book fulfills its mandate, but does much, much more. In a very small compass it describes the period 1900-1945, discusses the political and economic questions that took up much of Keynes' life, and paints a rather engaging portrait of the Bloombury group. It is also a surprisingly balanced biography of Keynes. Without wanting to denigrate the series, I fear that the rubric under which the book appears will frighten off potential readers who are neither queer nor under 20 years of age.

That would be a mistake.Other than the massive three volume biography, and Heilbroner's witty synopsis of 40 years ago, there is a real paucity of good information about John Maynard Keynes, and an excess of misinformation, maybe even disinformation. This biography can be read in an afternoon, possibly at one sitting, yet it is good enough to recommend to anyone who wants to understand that political and monetary hopes and disappointments of the first half of the twentieth century.Escoffier is not afraid to call them as he sees them, but the result is surprisingly fair and balanced, even ifI would not have phrased some things the way Escoffier did . His stress on exploitation as the hinge on whichthe Edwardian economy turned gave me pause, but it is not necessarily incorrect.So far as I can tell, Escoffier's views on a number of questions are quite different from those of Keynes, nor is this book a work of hagiography, which makes the overall fairness of the result even more remarkable. In short, I really do recommend that you read this book ifyou have any interest in any of its topics: Edwardian Britain, the Treaty of Versailles, economics, Bloomsbury, government finance (the Bush administration seems to be radically "keynesian" in a way John Maynard might not have approved), or being queer in the first part of the 20th century.

Not all that he's chalked up to be
This book shows a new side of John Maynard Keynes -- one which is not particularly well known.It shows the man behind the economic genius and does this quite well.I loved this book. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document, covering the life and work of John E(dward) Gay, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thomson Gale. The length of the entry is 424 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Customer Reviews (2)

An Eye Opening Read
This was a fascinating read, as it really opened my eyes to the needs of my students as they progress into adulthood.The discussion of the clients included in the book was intriguing, and the ramifications for those of us who are responsible for the education and care of disabled people were inumerable.

There were times that I blanched, thinking that a professional could really get into trouble with some of the situations that clients were placed in, but I would then remember that the clients were all adults, and that heterosexism prevents many disabled adults from experiencing appropriate peer interactions.

Perhaps the most important story to underscore caregivers need to support disabled adults in their pursuit of their sexuality was the story of the woman who met a partner on the internet.The subsequent manipulation and heartbreak by her cyber-partner shows how critical it is that we actually educate in and provide our students, clients or loved onesappropriate sexual outlets.

I would recommend this book to anyone who works with disabled adolescents or adults, or is the family member of a disabled adolescent or adult.

Good, but not as good as I'd hoped
First off, I went into this book, an autistic lesbian, with an expectation.I expected that I would be included in the book's definition of 'developmental disabilities'.I don't seem to be.The book focuses entirely on 'intellectual disabilities', never on the peculiarities of autism as juxtaposed with sexuality and gender.But autistic people face prejudice and discrimination similar to that of people with different developmental disabilities.Within the first chapter, I adjusted my expectation as to who the book was about, and moved on to read the book without my original expectation.

This book tells the story of a support group for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered) people with intellectual disabilities.Importantly, it tells it from a staff point of view.It starts with background information on the group's formation, moves on to descriptions of the members, and finishes with descriptions of the staff.

It is a good reference on this subject, and one of the only books I've seen that addresses this issue directly and continuously, instead of a chapter here and there.But there were some things in it that were decidedly unsettling.

It is interesting, and perhaps ironic, that the author describes the members of the support group as often being much more accepting of their LGBT qualities than their disability.Because the major flaw of this book is being sensitive to LGBT people but not to disabled people.

You can sense the staff-centered nature of the book when several members in a row are described as "manipulative" and "attention-seeking", labels that would likely not be given to them were they non-disabled.One man who acts in ways I'm very familiar with -- rocking, for instance -- at varying frequencies at varying times, is described as liking to engage in "obnoxious" behavior and exaggerating his disability at times to affect other people's behavior toward him.At the same time as the book's descriptions had me wanting to attend the support group, I was thinking, "Wait a minute, if I attended, what would the facilitators think of the fact that I rock and flap my hands a lot?Would that get written up as attention-seeking in the next book?Especially if the frequency changed under stress?"

To view survival tactics, ways of taking control when oppressed, and ordinary behavior as "manipulative" or "attention-seeking" is an old pejorative trick staff use to belittle disabled people, and I very much wish it was not occurring here.This was doubly disturbing when an incident was revealed, halfway through the book, in which an administrator used a series of individual phone calls to cause two disabled men in love with each other to avoid pursuing a relationship.The word "manipulation" was curiously absent in descriptions of this event, and the event was never confronted head-on for what it was.

Among the issues of discrimination discussed in the book, in fact, are the fact that other people try to prevent these relationships.Group homes, where too many of us unfortunately live, often have policies against sex or against closed bedroom doors.Education programs don't have sex education, and if they do it's usually heterosexual only.Adults are put under guardianships in which their guardians can control whom they see and when, and may not regard them as capable of consent to sex or relationships.People are stuck viewing people with developmental disabilities as childlike and don't even want to *think* about us having romantic relationships or sex, much less being anything but heterosexual. I have seen too many stories like this in real life to disbelieve anything the book has to say in this regard -- such as parents who chase away their offspring's lovers, believing, even if their offspring are the ones who initiated the contact, that someone else led their 'innocent helpless children' into a gay lifestyle.

The book describes this discrimination, and the way people face it.It describes people taking pride in who they are, as well as people turning desperately to heterosexuality for solace.It describes successful relationships and unsuccessful ones, as well as love triangles.With few exceptions, it doesn't sugarcoat the experience of LGBT disabled people.

This is a powerful myth-buster that I would recommend, among other reasons, because it strips away the thick layer of denial around the issue of sexuality and gender in people with developmental disabilities.But I dearly wish that it had been written in a way as sensitive to people with disabilities as it was to LGBT people. ... Read more