Ransacking the Closet [Paperback]

Yvonne Zipter (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Lesbian humorist Zipter collects installments of her syndicated newspaper column "Inside Out" and some new material for a survey of such comically thought-provoking topics as lesbian mating rituals and mothering obsessions; therapeutic relationships (complete with self-exposures, spiritual and otherwise) and therapeutic one-night stands; and the challenges of dental dams and other safe-sex accoutrements. Her wit is particularly striking in her musings on dykely dress codes, as she sorts her subjects into such categories as Hip Young Lesbians ("wherever a hunk of metal can adorn the human body it does . . . I wonder how these gals get through the metal detector at the airport" ) and the Old Guard (still in jeans and Holly Near T-shirts). Whether taking on the finer points of lesbian dating or the challenge of keeping romance alive in relationships filled with intimacies like "zit patrol," Zipter is seriously funny, enough so to entertain readers beyond her target lesbian audience. Whitney Scott

Review

Aided by a keen sense of observation, Zipter manages to find some-often hilarious-universal truths. If anyone ever thinks about putting together a Lesbian time capsule for the 1990's, Ransacking the Closet definitely deserves to be included. Recommended. -- In Step, Sept. 28-Oct. 11, 1995

This is a brilliant book. . . . The best comment I can make about this books is, buy it! Don't just borrow it, because you'll only want to keep it if you do and as we all know, it can be a fatal act to separate a lesbian from her literature. -- Broadsheet, Spring 1995

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Product Details

• Paperback: 210 pages
• Publisher: Spinsters Ink Books; 1st edition (October 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883523060
• ISBN-13: 978-1883523060
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,056,945 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I liked it... I Think!!!, August 1, 1999

By A Customer

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This review is from: Ransacking the Closet (Paperback)

This is a book of lesbian humor you might enjoy... then again you might not. Although Ransacking the Closet includes many tried and true (and somewhat dusty) tales of lesbian life, leading me to believe it isn't really "an original", the new material included make it quite a fun read. In fact, much of this book is a reprint of Zipter's column Inside/Out. After reading this book, I wish my local paper had carried that column! Some chapters, like "the jock test" leave femmes like me in the dust... butch/femme issues in themselves can be a touchy topic, but Yvonne Zipter plays with stereotypes and it's nice to have those stereotypes validated. Amazing how the word "dyke" from one mouth can be an insult while from another is high praise indeed! This one will prove to most lesbians that we love ourselves with all our eccentricities. You'll truly enjoy laughing at the truths in this book. I could have done without the medical chapter "This Old Girlfriend" which expounded on more medical tests than I care to laugh about, and some of the essays could have been shortened or tightened up, but this is an entertaining and accessible book. You might not find you want to read the entire thing, but it's a nice change to find a book that you can read in short bursts and not get totally lost! If you're looking for fun, funny, and comically true, this is a book you'll be happy you bought!