Preston, who died of AIDS-related illness in 1994, and Lowenthal, a freelance writer who contributed to Preston's Flesh and the Word series, have fashioned an absorbing, fresh and unpredictable collection of essays that explore the alternative "families" gay men create. The book is the third in another series?Preston also edited Hometowns: Gay Men Write About Where They Belong and A Member of the Family: Gay Men Write About Their Families. The better essays move beyond the trappings of upscale gay culture (a preoccupation limiting Eric Latsky's Fire Island reminiscences and activist-writer Michael Bronski's valentine to a Boston bar). Michael L., in retreat from a family "addicted to normal," finds solace among the straight and gay members of his Alcoholics Anonymous group, the "good parent." Novelist Christopher Bram wittily describes his fleeting but intense collaboration with friends in making a movie short. Randy Boyd?black, 30-plus, HIV-positive?movingly recounts his friendship with a 19-year-old, straight Los Angeles Hispanic. Jesse Monteagudo, a Latino converting to Judaism, finds his new faith, more than his sexuality, the defining factor of his life.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Some of America's top gay authors, including Andrew Holleran, Michael Nava, and William Haywood Henderson, write about the families they were born into and the ones they have created for themselves. "Family" takes on a broader definition here, sometimes too broad, as a few of the writers recount favorite bars, consciousness-raising groups, and stays at summer houses on the beach with friends and acquaintances. The best of the stories, however, tell how these men, some ostracized from their biological families, have established their own family units. Their touching stories recount the same themes common to all families: a sense of history and continuity, of support and acceptance, and, yes, sometimes even of dissension and hurt. In the end, however, it is the unconditional love and respect for one another that defines family for these writers. Recommended for most collections.?Jeffery Ingram, Newport P.L., Ore.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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