Customer Reviews

Who's a Pretty Boy, Then?: One Hundred & Fifty Years of Gay Life in Pictures

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There are some wonderful archival photos in this book, but it lacks a basic level of "scholarship" that leaves it as one guy's idiosyncratic take on British-dominated gay history. Seems to me there is way too much focus on drag, and a more international perspective would have helped as well.

To dismiss this book as just an excuse to dredge up some titillating photographs for the purpose of publishing is an injustice. This collection is an historical perspective on many levels - the camera as a art form since its invention, a survey of sociolgical transformations as to the perception of homosexuality, the psychological sweep from the closet to the stage to Stonewall to the AIDS bedside and beyond. There are many many captured moments that seem voyeuristic in the best sense of the word in that the spontaneity of individuals interacting as well as groups entertaining are fresh and often off guard. Here is a portfolio of tenderness, of hilarity, and of tragedy. Would that there were more essays interspersed to document the various periods traversd. But then we must also pay homage to the phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words". Well worth your time.

I got this as a present, and I am never sure what one has to do with picture books once seen they seem to have exhausted their usefulness. Nevertheless, it passes the time for novices on this subject; and one could always leave it lying around for 'straight' visitors to find...

This picture volume has more the feel of a labour of love than that of a scholarly work, and I am sure it doesn't aspire to that. The fact that it is very much London (UK) based limits its scope for other audiences somewhat despite some Baron von Gloeden images. I did find a 2 or 3 people in there I had come across in my time when clubbing in London; it serves me as a nice memento then. (Bless; Regina Fong)

What - based on the title - could have been an interesting topic, turns out to be an unfocused and rather wacky dalliance into photography as part of gay life. It is so subjective, unscholarly and disorganized it seems that it should have been published by a vanity press. In the preface the author states that the geographic focus will be limited to England. Then he says London only. Then he expands the breadth to nclude Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam and some places in the U.S. - anywhere important to gay British men. Also he insists on using the term "queen" for gays. I guess the reader should be forewarned in the preface when the author says that it is written in his "own personal and idiosyncratic" viewpoint. Caveat Emptor!

Really great book! Comprehensive way to overlook male-male relationships and gay history from 19th to 20th Century, based on graphic material and small texts which provides a social or historic context to images. Some pics are a piece of art, like the one in cover. Others may be illustrative of customs or social enviroments from different periods.

A great book of wonderful pictures that proves that men have been loving men for quite some times. Really great eye candy with a historical perspective.