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American Voyeur: Dispatches From The Far Reaches Of Modern Life (2010)

by Benoit Denizet-Lewis(Favorite Author)

3.52 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1416539158 (ISBN13: 9781416539155)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Simon & Schuster

review 1: Sometimes a bit sophomoric, Denizet-Lewis is at his best when he writes what he's passionate about -- and that would be gay people. He presents a perspective on all kinds of 'em, (almost all of them the male varieties), and the most interesting essays are the ones that Denizet-Lewis doesn't feel all that comfortable about, such as the Down Low, African-American men who engage in gay sex, but refuse the identity of homosexuality. The terror of the culture is its denial of safe sex practices, and the huge of amount of AIDS transmission to partners, both male and female, all in the name of thug sexy, doing it "raw". Despite its frank discussions of sex, this is a good book for high school non-fiction reading, especially, perhaps for GLBTQ reluctant readers, as the topics are ... morecertainly interesting, relevant to youth and young adults, and accessible. A good introduction to concepts of ethnography, journalism, social justice, and cultural studies.
review 2: A collection of previously written articles, more or less grouped by subject matter, the book dipped its toes into some really interested subcultures but I never felt like they did any of them justice. I would have liked to have seen much more in-depth about many of these situations, although I understand that since they're just reprints of pieces done mostly for magazines, the original writing probably didn't allow for the kind of depth that a book can devote. Still, it would have been interesting for the author to have expanded on these topics here.Ultimately, I give the author a lot of credit for writing so clearly about a variety of different groups of people, many of whom I would personally have a hard time writing about with such an even-keeled voice. Any of the author's own opinions about the subcultures he examines are largely kept out of his writing, letting each group's weaknesses and strengths (or beliefs and delusions, depending on your perspective) shine through. less

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