Gay Times: London (Gay Times Travel Guides) [Paperback]

John Szponarski (Author)

Book Description

Series: Gay Times Travel Guides | Publication Date: August 2002

Gay Times Travel Guides launches the first of its city guides with Gay Times London. Comprehensive, authoritative, opinionated, entertaining and just plain indispensible -- clubs, pubs, saunas, cruising grounds, gay and gay-friendly accommodations, gay media, help-lines and shops are all listed and described in detail. The guide also offers general tourist information covering getting around in the city, the arts scene, London's vibrant theatre life, all the major and sometimes not-so-major sights, sounds and much more. Stylish and sophisticated, the series is already setting the standards for gay travel guides everywhere.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The author of Gay Times Great Britain & Ireland and Gay Times World Holiday Guide, John Szponarski is Britain's most distinguished travel writer for gay men and women. He is Editor in Chief of Gay Times Travel Guides and is also having fun researching Gay Times Amsterdam.

Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: Absolute Press (August 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1899791442
• ISBN-13: 978-1899791446
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,985,886 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Of Dubious Value, December 31, 2002

By 

Stephen Beck (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gay Times: London (Gay Times Travel Guides) (Paperback)

Planning a trip to London in 2003, I purchased Gaytimes London with high hopes. Amazon describes it as an "in-depth guide to everything that is gay in" London. Wrong. The book's own "Forward" similarly reports "gay activity crammed into hundreds of different venues across the city: this guide lists them all." Not true.

The only comprehensive coverage is of clubs, pubs, and sex venues for gay men. In fact, the entire guide seems written for gay men rather than all GLBTs. Nothing wrong with that-except that the guide implies it's for all members of our community.

Now, what's missing? A lot. Most glaringly, this guide doesn't list any gay-friendly restaurants or cafes. Not one. It doesn't list any GLBT community groups: no churches, sports associations, political groups, etc. Nor, any 12-step programs. Nor, any women's health groups (although it does list 33 AIDS/HIV groups). The guide reports just one gay men's health club (Paris) and just one gay theatre (Drill Hall). C'mon, London has 7 million people, and 10% of that is.... The point here is that a lot of common GLBT gathering places-where tourists can meet locals-are just not listed.

Further, the guide seems awkwardly produced with an inexplicable organization. For example, the gay section lists "Accommodation" [sic] between "Saunas" and "Cruising Grounds." "Retail and shops" comes next, followed by "Escorts." And the listings are generally citywide, rather than by neighborhood, which makes it difficult to plan a night in a particular neighborhood. I would first need to pick the places I want to visit, then organize them by area. It would be much easier if the guide did that already.

Additionally, the type face is very small (perhaps, 8 point), which seems too small for reading in less lighted places like pubs, tube stations, or airports. The maps are small and generally unannotated. Very few web sites are listed, which is inconvenient and seems odd in this internet age. Finally, there's no index, also inconvenient and something I've never not seen in a travel guide.

I do like some aspects of the guide, like the "A Few Things" section, a very manageable listing of tourist sites in London. However, over all, Gaytimes London is of dubious value. I'll check out some other guide books. But I will also spend more time reviewing the various gay London web sites...