Queer Encyclopedia of Film and Television Book

From Hollywood films to TV soap operas, from Vegas extravaganzas to Broadway theater to haute couture, this comprehensive encyclopedia contains over 200 entries and 200 photos that document the irrepressible impact of queer creative artists on popular culture.

How did Liberace’s costumes almost kill him? Which lesbian comedian spent her high school years as “the best white cheerleader in Detroit?” For these answers and more, fans can dip into The Queer Encyclopedia of Film, Theater, and Popular Culture. Drawn from the fascinating online encyclopedia of queer arts and culture, www.glbtq.com — which the Advocate dubbed “the Encyclopedia Brittaniqueer” — this may be the only reference book in which RuPaul and Jean Cocteau jostle for space. From the porn industry to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, from bodybuilding to Dorothy Arzner, it’s a queer, queer world, and The Queer Encyclopedia is the indispensable guide: readable, authoritative, and concise. And perfect to read by candelabra. (The answers to the two questions above: from the dry cleaning fumes, Lily Tomlin.)

Library Journal

The latest installment in Cleis Press's series of queer encyclopedias and the arts follows the same lines of the earlier volumes (e.g., Queer Encyclopedia of the Visual Arts) by mining articles from the excellent web-cyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender culture found at www.glbtq.com. International in scope, the approximately 160 signed articles by area specialists cover all aspects of the field, including biographies, genres (e.g., horror films), and special topics (e.g., porn stars) and range in length from one and a half to five pages, with photos/stills scattered throughout. Each article also concludes with a brief secondary bibliography, and the index is most useful. GLBT film buffs will find few surprises herein, but straight readers might be surprised by entries on Merchant-Ivory, Paul Winfield, and Tab Hunter, among others. Summers, who edited the previous volumes in the series, does not claim comprehensiveness, and some major players are absent (e.g., Farley Granger, Richard Deacon), but overall the coverage is inclusive and features men and women from all periods of film and television history. Bottom Line For its broad sweep, no other work competes with this one, although it is most profitably used with such monographs as William J. Mann's Behind the Screen and Stephen Tropiano's Prime Time Closet, in addition to the online database. Recommended for all media and popular culture collections.-Anthony J. Adam, Prairie View A&M Univ. Lib., TX Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.