Customer Reviews

The Homo Handbook: Getting in Touch with Your Inner Homo: A Survival Guide for Lesbians and Gay Men (1996 Lambda Literary Award Best Humor Book)

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So, you're gay, think you're gay, or one of those "I'm just curious" types? Then does Judy Carter have the book for you! This book helps you to explore your inner feelings towards being gay and assists in knocking the door off that closet to open up to your inner homo. Using generous amounts of her gay stand-up humor, Carter makes her book entertaining as well as informing, allowing gays to laugh at themselves as well as the narrow-minded bigots who bash them. She also incorporates numerous workbook-style exercises designed to guide gays in accepting themselves and making the rest of the world accept them, too. This is a must-read for anyone who is gay, thinks he/she might be gay, or even knows someone who is gay.

As an endangered species (i.e. 'lesbian with a sense of humor'), I adored this book! Judy has her inner camp by the horns, making this an incredibly humorous read as she leads you through a well-rounded self-exploration of your "inner homo." Definitely worth both the money and the time to read this treasure!

This book is great. It has a lot of great exercises and advice, and is very supportive. I did find that this book has been written for a narrow audience, a white closeted lesbian in her 30's. This is an audience that I just don't fit into. This book does try to address other audiences such as gay men, but does not handle it well. For those of you who fit into this book's audience, BUY IT! It's a great book. If you don't fit into this audience, you can buy it but might find that you can't relate to it as well.

I've owned this book for ten years and I know that there are many good reasons to buy and enjoy the "Homo Handbook" - regardless of whether you're prepared to follow the gradual steps suggested or prefer to quickly come out to your folks and flatmates by just leaving it on the coffee table.

Judy Carter has been a stand-up comic performer and lecturer by trade, so she knows what works in hunour and entertainment. She is proudly lesbian, but writes in a manner which is also very gay male relevant, and that's because she did extensive online research in gay men's chatrooms, especially for this publication.

You'll find plenty of sound advice - including encouragement to keep a journal of your progression toward self-acceptance and public disclosure as well as getting some real-life honest-to-god romantic action happening in your life.

The many Gerard Donelan cartoons are a wonderful added bonus and are the reason I often pick the book up and flick through it.

The best book, by far, for a young queer person to own and read would be "The Survival Guide" by XY Magazine, but for more mature readers "The Homo Handbook" is likely to be a very positive and useful resource.