Customer Reviews

Gay Travels in the Muslim World (Out in the World)

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The book description mentions "traveling in the Middle East." Readers should understand that the Muslim world far exceeds this limited geographic region and that many of the stories in this book were written by people whose travels were in other areas.

I write this as the author of one of the stories in the book. My experiences were in Africa.

"Gay Travels in the Muslim World" is quick interesting reading. Luongo's perface to the book is most note worthy. He presents the issue of homosexuality in a framework of identity versus practices which is thoughtful. I would recommend this book for students of sociology and African American studies who are focused on learning more about ascribed and achieved life roles within society.

John Barfield

Evanston, IL

Apart from the 'foreword', preface and acknowledgements, I found this book to be compelling. I guess I would have to class myself as a closet gay traveller so I found the stories exciting and sometimes a little unbelievable. I really liked the stories about encounters that occurred in places to which I have been, but alas, none of the excitement happened to me. Perhaps I should return? I've walked along the corniche in Cairo at night, along the corniche in Muscat at night etc but never noticed anything that remotely looked like men / boys looking to be picked up.

For me, there is something almost mystical about the Arab world and many of the stories have made me think about going to those places. Some of the writers are very adept at telling their stories which made them a pleasure to read. This is the first gay book that I have ever bought and it inspired me to order another.

There were just a couple of chapters that did nothing for me, but other than them, I thoroughly recommend the book.

This is a selection of 18 articles, varying considerably in length, quality, and richness of information. While one should expect accounts of real travels, events, and people, some of the articles are pure fiction. This is unfortunately the case of the only article on Israel, involving two teenagers: an Israeli soldier and an Arab boy (written by an American, carrying BA and MA degrees).

The title leads to think that a balanced "sample" of the Muslim world would be given. However, most of the artciles deal with the Middle East, with the lion's share going to Morroco with 4 articles.

The most surprising and informative is the article on Afghanistan (by the Editor), the funniest is the one on Oman, the most erotic is the one on Iraq (fiction??), and the most romantic is the on on Turkey.

The book is certainly informative, entertaining, and at times erotic.

All in all, it gives a good and useful background information, focussing in many articles on the importance of the cultural differences beween Western and Muslim societies. This, I think is a very helpful point for those who intend to travel to a Muslim country.

Gays and Islam are a combination that, many feel, make the oil-and-water analogy seem like understatement. Yet like cacti in the desert, gay life blooms even under the harsh conditions of the Muslim world, and Luongo's fascinating, if at times uneven, anthology offers up a vivid portrait of these hardy homos planted in the Islamic wilderness. From Afghanistan to Morocco we hear tales of visitors, expats and locals, and are left wondering if the unacknowledged gayness of so much of Muslim-country life (men holding hands or expressing intimacy before marriage) is simply another expression of same-gender closeness that we Westerners don't understand... or if it's in fact a sign of the same harsh homophobia from which our culture is only now emerging. As one of only a handful of gay travel books (most of which are anthologies such as this one), Gay Travels in the Muslim World tackles a beguiling, significant region of the planet well off the rainbow travel trail yet in need of more exposure and understanding.

This book is a series of essays written by gay men about their experiences traveling in Muslim countries. It was interesting to read about gay culture (or lack thereof) in Muslim countries. I was surprised with how personal and open most of the essays were. Overall, I learned a lot.

As a contributor to many different publications, including Horror 101: The A-List of Horror Films and Monster Movies, I am happy to add Gay Travels in the Modern World to my list of credits. The diversity of styles, backgrounds, and ideas of the contributors to this book is a perfect reflection of the diversity in the experiences in both the gay and Muslim worlds. It's impossible not to read this collection without reflecting on how these worlds sometimes collide, sometimes overlap. Don Bapst, author of danger@liaisons.com