Reviews for Husband hunting made easy and other miracles for the modern gay man

The average rating for Husband hunting made easy and other miracles for the modern gay man based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-07-14 00:00:00 Paul Avery It was a pleasure revisiting “Hometowns” 29 years after its publication. John Preston selected a diverse assortment of outstanding gay male writers to write about their hometowns; many also contributed to a similar collection of essays in Preston’s “A Member of the Family.” Just as that book explored how toxic family relationships can lead gay people to create their own families, “Hometowns” explores how many gay men leave the hometown they grew up in to find love and security in often larger towns and cities. Though I did not notice it on my first reading, many of these authors shared a similar journey. Leaving small towns where they were lonely outcasts, they came out at universities in large cities, went on to grad school, then settled in gay friendly college towns with careers as English professors. There are some exceptions, of course, and at least one author (Les Wright) found his new hometown college unwelcoming to gay faculty and their partners. While a few authors settled in the gay Meccas of San Francisco, L.A., Boston and New York, others were happy living “gay adjacent” to cities with big gay populations. Among many fine essays the most poignant is by editor Preston about his new hometown of Portland, Maine and how straight friends accepted and supported him when they found out about his HIV status. Though Preston is no longer living, most of these writers in “Hometowns” are. It would be interesting to follow up and find out if they still identify with the hometown they selected for their essays, or did they move on? Only one author, Scott Tucker, a construction laborer in Key West, mentions the cost of living as a barrier to setting in his town, but that factor has surely made some of these writers rethink living and retiring in expensive cities like San Francisco. And what of gay men who never left their initial hometowns? Some gay men find themselves stuck in a small hometown where they never leave due to family, jobs, or fear; the voices of these men are not heard in the mostly upbeat progressive stories in “Hometowns.” Still, this book remains an admirable effort that holds up well on rereading. Recommended.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-10-02 00:00:00 Yash Khopra I am neither male nor gay and I found this book very readable and interesting. I didn't read it to "get" the gay experience, but to understand how people felt about their hometowns. Some of the hometowns were where they grew up - not all experiences were tragic or alienated - and some of the hometowns were where these men settled. Stories were sentimental, lonely, angry, poetic, and journalistic. All of them well-written, because these men are professional writers. I'm going to say it - the story that I enjoyed the most was the one written by John Preston, the editor. I wasn't aware that it was his story until I closed the book and saw his name on the cover and had that "aha" moment. That isn't to say that any of the other stories are "less" somehow. New York, Alaska, Deming, New Mexico (that I visited last year), all the places were painted well. I think there might have been too many stories - hard to give each one enough mental space. That's why I gave it four stars.