Customer Reviews

Encyclopedia of Homosexuality

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No gay scholar -- in fact, no student of human sexuality -- can afford to be without this massive two-volume masterpiece. The scholarship in these two volumes is nonpareil, the information at times overwhelming. Nothing like this has ever been published. Particularly refreshing is the freedom from cant, advocacy, and gay sloganeering: regard these volumes as the "Nothing but the facts, ma'am" side of gay studies, and you won't go far wrong.

Highest possible recommendation!

This encyclopedia is the best one of all enkyklopaidiai on the topic=homosexuality. Very well documented and researched , in addition well edited. I recommend the encyclopedia for everybody. Howevwer, I hope Mr. Dynes will edit a new revised-version of "THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HOMOSEXUALITY", because many books about homosexuality have been published since 1991 and I'd like to read more comprehensive & world-wide articles of histories, literatures , customs & traditions of all of the world.

This is probably the most comprehensive survey of the subject in a single work, and it is unfortunate that it has not been updated. Many of the articles are written by the editors, i.e., Wayne Dynes, William Percy (brother of Walker Percy) and "Warren Johansson" (Joseph Wallfield, died 1994). There are some leading themes or theories that run throughout this massive work, one of which is to blame Christianity for all of the problems encountered by modern homosexuals. This puts this work in opposition to John Boswell's theory that the Catholic church was slow to adopt a hostile attitude. Homosexuality is taken as a given, and all hostile theories are refuted. It does not occur to the editors that all human (and indeed, gendered) bodies are heterosexually designed, and homosexual acts are thus performed with bodies which are not designed with such acts in mind. This objection is more or less ignored. The article on Burma had nothing to say, so I wonder why it was included. Much else could be said about so massive a work, but let me say that it is worth reading as long as the reader keeps an open mind.