Fabulous!: A Loving, Luscious, and Light-hearted Look at Film from the Gay Perspective [Paperback]

Donald F. Reuter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 13, 2004

“Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.”

Defining “gay perspective” is no easy task, but Don Reuter has created a star-studded new tribute to the Hollywood moments that give gay culture its own saucy language. Collecting the most memorable one-liners, gender benders, tearjerkers, nail-biters, and heart stoppers from the world’s most celebrated picture shows, Fabulous! is a campy, fun-filled companion to the movies that gay men love.

More than one hundred films are covered, from classics like All About Eve and Breakfast at Tiffany’s to newer films such as Chicago and Boogie Nights, accompanied by screen stills and snippets of dialogue that readers will know by heart—or want to instantly commit to memory. Dozens of selections include in-depth commentary featuring fun facts, vivid plot summaries, and a witty rundown of reasons for the movie’s gay appeal. Also included are sections devoted to the “gayest” made-for-TV movies, how to throw the perfect Oscar party, and a trivia quiz.

Hilarious, witty, thoughtful, and always surprising, Fabulous! is the absolute source for all things gay in cinema.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Reuter's arch and breezy treatise on what makes a film a queer favorite runs the gamut of the gay de rigueur, from superb classics like Judy Garland's The Wizard of Oz and Liza Minnelli's Cabaret to the camp car wrecks Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and Valley of the Dolls. Reuter (Gaydar) explains what makes one film "homo-centric" and another hopelessly hetero (e.g., Double Indemnity gets the gay thumbs up, but Casablanca doesn't pass the litmus); actors, dialogue and plot all create homo or hetero tensions. He also amusingly delineates guidelines for decoding gay sensibility encoded in otherwise straight films such as Dr. Zhivago and The Way We Were. Themes of isolation and feeling different-which, for Reuter, define a gay-friendly film-are imbedded in nearly all of the 75 movies described here (there are another 25 suggested as queerish also-rans). Reuter elucidates the connections straight women and gay men find with so-called "chick flicks" of many eras (including Now Voyager, Thelma and Louise and Chicago), but as he reveals, a film can be homoerotic but utterly indecipherably so to a straight audience. Reuter's book isn't meant to be read as a film textbook, but as film context, and although the cutesy presentation can get tiresome if one reads from cover to cover, it's thoroughly successful for dipping into. With camp-classic quotes, lists of films to explore, short shticks on musicals and film themes, a trivia section, tips on planning an Oscar party and terrific photos throughout, Fabulous is definitely fabulous. B&w photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Inside Flap

?Fasten your seat belts. It?s going to be a bumpy night.?
Defining ?gay perspective? is no easy task, but Don Reuter has created a star-studded new tribute to the Hollywood moments that give gay culture its own saucy language. Collecting the most memorable one-liners, gender benders, tearjerkers, nail-biters, and heart stoppers from the world?s most celebrated picture shows, Fabulous! is a campy, fun-filled companion to the movies that gay men love.
More than one hundred films are covered, from classics like All About Eve and Breakfast at Tiffany?s to newer films such as Chicago and Boogie Nights, accompanied by screen stills and snippets of dialogue that readers will know by heart?or want to instantly commit to memory. Dozens of selections include in-depth commentary featuring fun facts, vivid plot summaries, and a witty rundown of reasons for the movie?s gay appeal. Also included are sections devoted to the ?gayest? made-for-TV movies, how to throw the perfect Oscar party, and a trivia quiz.
Hilarious, witty, thoughtful, and always surprising, Fabulous! is the absolute source for all things gay in cinema.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; 1 edition (January 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076791600X
• ISBN-13: 978-0767916004
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,364,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must- have for film lovers of all kinds, February 13, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Fabulous!: A Loving, Luscious, and Light-hearted Look at Film from the Gay Perspective (Paperback)

Mr. Reuter has written a wonderfully funny book with lots of information and pictures, all of which beautifully captures a clear love of movies. His unique perspective helps to both remind one of the pleasures of the one hundred films included within, as well as add a fresh dimension to our understanding of them. In addition, the book made me laugh out loud a number of times. A job well done.

4.0 out of 5 stars trailing feathers and chiffon all the way, May 10, 2007

By 

Darryl K. Clark "pywakkit" (springfield, missouri) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fabulous!: A Loving, Luscious, and Light-hearted Look at Film from the Gay Perspective (Paperback)

there are two likeable aspects to this cute little book.

the first is reuter's sprightly approach to his subject. he has a good time with his catalog of films. mind you, none of these films offers any surprises. at all. this are the films that most gay men pick as their all-time camp faves and each is well represented in this book.

the second, and even more likeable aspect of the book is the first chapter. it is a nicely written primer that situates the place these films play in the construction of a gay identity that is unique to western society. once again, it is largely male and is even further defined by race and class but it works as both entertaining reading and scholarly discourse on queer spectatorship.