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Book Info | | | enlarge picture
| Cruising Culture: Promiscuity, Desire and American Gay Literature | | Author: | Ben Gove | ISBN: | 0748613617 | Format: | Handover | Publish Date: | June, 2005 | | | | | | | | | Book Review | | |
Review "Gove's book really packs a punch. Rather than perceiving gay popular fiction as a reflection of society's behavioural patterns, he highlights its importance as a catalyst for change. In doing so, he brings the subject to life and makes it more accessible to everyone." -- Time Out (London)
Book Description Gove analyzes promiscuity within American gay culture and the root assumptions and contradictions that contribute to dominant understandings of promiscuous sex and desire. He challenges the normative dichotomy of "bad" gay male promiscuity and "good" heterosexual monogamy and presents a wider overview of American attitudes towards sexual practice and desire. The author draws on the autobiographical fiction and memoirs of three influential authors from the early 1960s onwards: John Rechy, Larry Kramer, and David Wojnarowicz, as well as other queer critical, historical, and fictional viewpoints to illustrate the argument.
About the Author Ben Gove has taught at the University of Sussex and at Lehigh University.
Cruising Culture: Promiscuity, Desire and American Gay Literature FROM THE PUBLISHER "Cruising Culture provides a critical examination of competing understandings and experiences of promiscuity, both in post-war American gay culture and in American culture more broadly." "Ben Gove challenges normative dichotomies between 'good' monogamous sexualities and 'bad' promiscuous sexualities by illustrating the inherent promiscuousness of all sexual desire, regardless of consciously expressed attitudes to sexual practice." "The reader is guided through the maze of conflicting attitudes towards promiscuity in American gay culture with innovative readings of texts by influential, but hitherto critically neglected, authors such as Andrew Holleran, Larry Kramer, John Rechy, Edmund White and David Wojnarowicz. The book also draws on numerous critical and historical perspectives to present an intricate picture of promiscuous sexual life in contemporary America." "Cruising Culture is for gay/lesbian/queer studies, gender studies and American studies, and for anyone else seeking a thorough discussion of the complex debates surrounding promiscuity."--BOOK JACKET.
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