Customer Reviews

Another Mother Tongue: Gay Words, Gay Worlds

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Another Mother Tongue is one of the dozen or so most important books I have ever read. It may well be one of the most important books ever written, at the very least having to do with queer life.

It is a luminous tapestry uniting strands of cultural history, folklore, the queer collective unconscious and autobiography, woven with superlative skill in which is recounted everything of importance about us as a people: who we are, where we've come from, and why we are special. The author develops her thesis that, as queers, we are heir to a special office of great antiquity and critical import. We queers are the standers on the Threshold and keepers of the Gate. It is to those like ourselves that civilizations and societies locked in the throes of radical transformation turn, as though to a physician to assure a painless and quiet death for the old and as though to midwives to attend the safe birth of that which is new.

The product of over a decade of research, the author has done nothing less than retrieve our entire suppressed history, our folklore, our pantheons of deities and demons, our spiritual heritage and its lineages and our glorious language - another mother tongue.

Among the most critical things we learn (or are reminded of in case we've forgotten) from Ms. Grahn's epochal volume is that our tradition is an old one - a very, very old one, and that it is continuous thanks to the work of our spiritual ancestors: our first lover's first lover's first lover.

We are reminded that it crosses national and hemispheric boundaries, and that it has spiritual roots.

Grahn also reminds us of the intense degree of violent oppression to which the matrix heterosexist culture has gone (and may be prepared to go again) to marginalize our traditions, rob us of our empowerment, cripple our psyches and deny our special worth and status.

The author relates in her notes how, of all of the moving events that followed the initial publication of AMT in 1984 the most moving was her encounter with a Maori lesbian in New Zealand, who fell weeping into her arms because she at last could see and understand the meaning of her life story.

Having read and re-read this volume, I know just how that woman felt.

Judy Grahn has brought to our collective consciousness as a people things long kept within the racial memory. This she has done in a beautifully readable fashion.

She knows all of the old stories, and she has the signs and persuasions - all of them. This is a book that deserves to be read, read again and loved.

Judy Grahn has deftly researched the subject of homosexual culture, both lesbian and gay. She demystifies the sources of popularly exepted "gay" language and mores'. She also clearly defines the original place of the gay male and the lesbian womin in herstory as well as history. A thorougly good read and an educational groundwork for anyone curious-for any reason-about homosexual culture. An impressive peice of work that I highly recommend!

Judy Grahn's book is one of the most important books I've ever read. It may well be one of the most important books ever written, at the very least having to do with gay life. It is a luminous tapestry of cultural history, folklore and autobiography woven with superlative skill in which is recounted nearly everything of importance about us as a people: who we are, where we've come from, where we're likely headed, and why we are special. The product of over a decade of research, the author has done nothing less than retrieve our entire suppressed history, our folklore, our pantheons of deities, our heritage, our heros and our glorious language - another mother tongue. Among the most critically important things we learn (or are reminded of) by Grahn's epochal work is that our tradition is an old one - a very, very old one, and that it is continuous thanks to the work of our spiritual ancestors (our first lover's first lover's first lover), that it crosses national and hemispheric boundaries and that it has spiritual roots. Grahn also reminds us of the intense, unrelenting degree of suppression to which the matrix heterosexist culture has gone (and may be prepared to go again) to marginalize our tradition. The author relates in her notes how, of all of the moving events that followed the initial publication of AMT in 1984 the most moving was her encounter with a Maori lesbian warrior in New Zealand, who fell weeping into her arms because she at last could see and understand the meaning of her life story. Having read, and re-read this volume, I know just how that woman felt. Judy Grahn has returned to our collective consciousness secret, sacred things long kept within the "racial memory." This she has done in a beautifully readable fashion. Judy Grahn knows all of the old stories, and she knows the signs and the persuasions - all of them - that are the spiritial patrimony of our people. This is a book to be loved, and that deserves to be read and read again.

This is a not to be missed book. The Preface alone is fascinating. This book is so page turningly good you would think you were reading a who-done-it mystery.. Hard to believe that it is out of print for 16 years now.

This book is spotlighted in the anthology `Lovers: love and sex stories' by Tee A. Corinne, saying "Grahn draws together a complex net of ideas, offering the reader a new understanding of fantasy, power and creativity and their potential changing of the world." Also "Judy Grahn weaves a multi-dimensional sexuality and sexual language throughout...Grahn defines the realms of erotic power as: physical, mental, psychic and transformative. Magically, she moves from one to another, naming, explaining and enabling."


From the back of the book - Beautifully blending cultural history with autobiography, `Another Mother Tongue' is a fascinating recovery and celebration of gay culture. Judy Grahn's award-winning book - now in an expanded edition - uses personal memories, etymology, legend, and recent and ancient history to explore the importance and meaning of gay and lesbian life.

"Nothing less than a gay cultural history....It reads like a story, like a letter, like a conversation." San Francisco Chronicle


This is a keeper!

Another Mother Tongue: Fluent, Fluid & Integral
by Bill Courson

Judy Grahns book is one of the dozen or so most important books Ive ever read. It may well be one of the most important books ever written, at the very least having to do with gay life.

It is a luminous tapestry uniting strands of cultural history, folklore, the queer collective unconscious and autobiography, woven with superlative skill in which is recounted everything of importance about us as a people: who we are, where weve come from, and why we are special. The author develops her thesis that, as queers, we are heir to a special office of great antiquity and critical import. We are the standers on the Threshold and keepers of the Gate. It is to those like ourselves that civilizations and societies locked in the throes of radical transformation turn, as though to a physician to assure a painless and quiet death for the old and as though to midwives to attend the safe birth of that which is new.

The product of over a decade of research, the author has done nothing less than retrieve our entire suppressed history, our folklore, our pantheons of deities and demons, our spiritual heritage and its lineages and our glorious language  another mother tongue. Among the most critical things we learn (or are reminded of in case we've forgotten) from Ms. Grahns epochal volume is that our tradition is an old one  a very, very old one, and that it is continuous thanks to the work of our spiritual ancestors: our first lovers first lovers first lover. We are reminded that it crosses national and hemispheric boundaries, and that it has spiritual roots.

Grahn also reminds us of the intense degree of violent oppression to which the matrix heterosexist culture has gone (and may be prepared to go again) to marginalize our traditions, rob us of our empowerment, cripple our psyches and deny our special worth and status. The author relates in her notes how, of all of the moving events that followed the initial publication of AMT in 1984 the most moving was her encounter with a Maori lesbian in New Zealand, who fell weeping into her arms because she at last could see and understand the meaning of her life story. Having read and re-read this volume, I know just how that woman felt.

Judy Grahn has brought to our collective consciousness as a people things long kept within the racial memory. This she has done in a beautifully readable fashion.

She knows all of the old stories, and she has the signs and persuasions  all of them. This is a book that deserves to be read, read again and loved.

I read this silly book years ago, and the one thing that sticks in my memory is the part where she says that lesbians literally glow in the dark, and she knows that this is true because she has seen lesbians doing this. Oh, yes, there was also the part where she says that she is an intellectual (sic) and she has figured out that the word "bulldyke" supposedly comes from an ancient British queen's name. Practically everything in this book is along these lines. She is not an intellectual, she is a hippie. What she has to say is mystical nonsense combined with a gay essentialist theory that says that all gay and lesbian people are mutants with supernatural powers of some sort. I do not believe that gay people are born that way or that they are mystical mutants. The enthusiasm aroused in the gay community by this book is hopelessly misplaced. The message of the book is comforting only to those who consider themselves to come, so to speak, from outer space. But if it is really true that lesbians glow in the dark, why, we could hire them to serve as street lamps whenever there is a power outage.

I lost the 1984 version of this book years ago. It was a wonderful book for me to read. I was also a 16-year-old gay youth. I still find her words poignant. However, from re-reading this book at a different age in my life I would like to make some commentary on her approach.

Judy has done much research in compiling this book. However, I find her references quite flimsy. What I see mostly is an author that has been self-published and taken those reigns and ran with them. Nothing flows. At one moment I'm learning about Boudica and the next I am heading into a bar scene. I am waiting for the two to come together but they don't.
Judy paints a more than exceptional life of herself. I have a hard time accepting that everything that she speaks about actually occurred. We, as gay people have many experiences and as humans we can convince ourselves that we had it harder or we saw deeper than any others around us. To my disliking I see Judy putting herself upon a pedestal of martyrdom. That she is the saviour of all gays and lesbians.
In conclusion, her resources are old and maybe one line was mentioned in the original text that she pulled and referenced. The experiences are not realistic. Every little anecdote seems to fit far too neatly into the gay scheme of her dialogue. Suddenly she has an imp imaginary friend after a chapter on fairies and butches. And, just by chance, the imp is named "butchie". Not convinced.
I can see why she is a self-published author. No constraints.
As I said above, she was a good source for me to read at my age. However, her words could cause catastrophes. She paints a very protaganistic picture. A picture of the warrior Gay. I think she has no idea of what that means. She is just a lesbian with some money and a head full of ideas.
Read this book but don't read it thinking you're gonna get from it what the title says you will.

I've been searching a while for a book that is not "just" about gay culture throughout the years, and I am so glad that I've come across this book. What sets this one apart from the rest are the personal annecdotes that intertwine throughout the historical text. This version is the updated one, and appears to be quite a rare find. This author is a genius!