Customer Reviews

Male Homosexuality in Modern Japan: Cultural Myths and Social Realities

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
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This book provides a straight-forward and well-written account of male homosexual culture in Japan. I use it as one text among many in a college-level course taught in Japan and have had good results with classroom discussions. Unlike many other works in queer theory and gay and lesbian studies, it is the sort of book that undergraduate students can read, understand and critique. As a sociologist, I am somewhat troubled by the small sample size McLelland employs in his descriptions of male homosexual culture, but the sample does represent a variety of lifestyles that allows McLelland to dispell prevalent images of homosexual men. Moreover, much of the book is an insightful account of representations of male homosexuality in media culture, with an unusally clear sociological critique. Overall, I recommend the book for readers interested in contemporary male homosexuality in Japan.

This book provides extremely accessible material about a subject that is, by nature, highly inaccessible. His histories are clearly written and accurate. His analysis is as useful as it is interesting. Whether you are an old hand at theory and like to dirty your hands in cultural studies or a novice in the humanities with interests in the world in which you live, Mr. McLelland's book provides points of entry into a culture that is far away in distance and in essence that readers of all walks can appreciate. Very rarely can one say of scholarship that ir may provide something for everyone.

This is probably one of the best books written in simple English, yet maintaining its academic discourse style. I highly recommend this book for those interested to study gay life in Japan.

I am writing an essay for my Japanese politics and society class on Japanese homosexuality. I have read several of McLellands books on the matter, but I find this one in particular really good. I have not finished it yet, only browsed through it, but so far it is a neatly buildt up and it is an easy read. I highly recommend it to anyone who is studying asian homosexuality or just want to know more about it. Also I ordered a used copy and it actually got here (Norway) faster than when I usually order books from Amazon.