Renaissance Figures of Speech Book

This is a subject dealing specifically with prominent homosexual men who were significantly influenced by and drawn to the Mediterranean region (mostly Italy, but Greece too through its historical and cultural inseparability from it). As such it makes for a very interesting perspective. Aldrich has been able to cue in on a notable trend, and make sense of most of its intricacies.

A lot of fascinating men have been dealt with in the book. I was especially glad to see the name Dominique Fernandez among them; and lesser known, but a moving account of what happened with Raymond Laurent can also be found on the pages of this work.

On the negative end, Aldrich is fairly unexciting in his style. It is a rather dispassionate account that could have benefited from some ardor on the author's side. I would find fault there with that. But otherwise the text is expert and has been masterfully researched. Its reach is versatile, and the text remained clear throughout.

I also realized, while reading the book, just how much of this Mediterranean influence is in me by default, how much of it is in my subconscious makeup, and upbringing, without ever having realized it. There is insight and revelation on that to be found in this book. I don't, however, agree with the suggestion that this 'seduction of the Mediterranean' is a bygone phenomenon by our 21st century. I think it is as alive and as powerful as it was a couple of centuries ago, maybe more subtle, definitely less mainstream, but intensely extant for some gay men who are living its reverberations still today.