AmosL
08-24-2006, 07:25 PM
Bereznai, Steven, "Gay and Single...Forever?: 10 Things Every Gay Guy Looking for Love (and Not Finding It) Needs to Know". Avalon 2006
Amos Lassen and Literary Pride
Wow!!!!!!! That is a title for you. Here in this original, quite brave and easily arguable book comes a formula on what and what not to do about being single. The thesis concerns whether it is better to be single or not. It seems that since we became "liberated" after Sonewall, after the marches on Washington and after the multitude of changes in attitudes toward us, that gay men are opting to be, shall we say, unattached. Yet, on the other hand, there is a great deal being said about being partnered. Bereznai examines the issues of whether there is room for a single gay guy in today's modern society. He does this by interviews with gay men, through personal revelations and with detailed commentary based on both psychological and social thought. He wrote this book for us, and especially for the man who wants to stay single.
Berenzai starts off by telling us that the talk of gay marriage and being partnered, which has been such a hot topic of conversation, is "whimsy" as long as there are so many more important issues facing us. Yet essentially the struggle today is for equality--the enemy has not changed--it is still hate and fear. In other words, it is the same old war, just the battles are different.
This book is the result of a search for intimacy at a time when "gay singles are the new pariahs". (Interesting thought). Bereznai uses his own state of perpetual singledom as he sets out to explain his work. And what he has discovered while being single releases his thoughts about the needs of gay men and thereby gives a chronology of the shifting of relationships and how this has affected the cultural and political life of the entire gay community. His writing is heartfelt and witty at the same time. Although he writes from the heart, he doesn't ignore the mind or the other parts of the body. His remarks are "right on", sometimes so true that they hurt. This is a book for all those who live without love but want it very badly. There are times that I felt I was reading Carrie Bradshaw's column. One critic has called this book the "new gay bible". It certainly will help you understand why you never brought the lucky guy home to meet the folks.
Allow me to share some of the chapter titles with you. We start off with "Gay is good--being gay and single used to be, too". How about "Husbands and boyfriends don't guarantee happiness" and "Boyfriends can be like prostitutes---Prostitutes can be like boyfriends". And then there is my favorite, "Wanting to be with someone is natural....not wanting to stay with him is, too" Paul Rudnick, the gay playwright is quoted on the back cover, "Being gay and single is the new smoking. It won't be socially acceptable anymore, and you will have to go outside." That pretty well sums the book up.
Amos Lassen and Literary Pride
Wow!!!!!!! That is a title for you. Here in this original, quite brave and easily arguable book comes a formula on what and what not to do about being single. The thesis concerns whether it is better to be single or not. It seems that since we became "liberated" after Sonewall, after the marches on Washington and after the multitude of changes in attitudes toward us, that gay men are opting to be, shall we say, unattached. Yet, on the other hand, there is a great deal being said about being partnered. Bereznai examines the issues of whether there is room for a single gay guy in today's modern society. He does this by interviews with gay men, through personal revelations and with detailed commentary based on both psychological and social thought. He wrote this book for us, and especially for the man who wants to stay single.
Berenzai starts off by telling us that the talk of gay marriage and being partnered, which has been such a hot topic of conversation, is "whimsy" as long as there are so many more important issues facing us. Yet essentially the struggle today is for equality--the enemy has not changed--it is still hate and fear. In other words, it is the same old war, just the battles are different.
This book is the result of a search for intimacy at a time when "gay singles are the new pariahs". (Interesting thought). Bereznai uses his own state of perpetual singledom as he sets out to explain his work. And what he has discovered while being single releases his thoughts about the needs of gay men and thereby gives a chronology of the shifting of relationships and how this has affected the cultural and political life of the entire gay community. His writing is heartfelt and witty at the same time. Although he writes from the heart, he doesn't ignore the mind or the other parts of the body. His remarks are "right on", sometimes so true that they hurt. This is a book for all those who live without love but want it very badly. There are times that I felt I was reading Carrie Bradshaw's column. One critic has called this book the "new gay bible". It certainly will help you understand why you never brought the lucky guy home to meet the folks.
Allow me to share some of the chapter titles with you. We start off with "Gay is good--being gay and single used to be, too". How about "Husbands and boyfriends don't guarantee happiness" and "Boyfriends can be like prostitutes---Prostitutes can be like boyfriends". And then there is my favorite, "Wanting to be with someone is natural....not wanting to stay with him is, too" Paul Rudnick, the gay playwright is quoted on the back cover, "Being gay and single is the new smoking. It won't be socially acceptable anymore, and you will have to go outside." That pretty well sums the book up.