Rating: 
Summary: The definition of solipsism
Review: Sullivan is the product of his background - an upper-middle-class Anglo-Catholic Oxford graduate. His book reads like a 250-page tutorial essay, except that no self-respecting Oxford tutor would let pass the mutliple inconsistencies and non-sequiturs in this tepid dribble of mental masturbation. He wants us all to be virtuous and abstinent, to replace our lovers with friends - yet in the year before his seroconversion he is so promiscuous that he has no idea who has infected him. A sermon in a Catholic church infuriates him, yet he goes on at inordinate length about the virtues of his faith and what we can learn from Jesus (pity he didn't learn modesty). His selective and misleading account of psychoanalytic theories of homosexuality would be risible if he didn't take his tedious self so seriously. He rightly attacks the notoriously homophobic analyst Charles Socarides, yet directs almost as much venom towards Richard Isay, an openly gay psychiatrist who has devoted enormous time and effort not only to working with gays but also to making such work respectable within the psychiatric profession in the USA.Sullivan wants to replace love by friendship because he has never found love and is looking for intellectual explanations of this empty place in his life. It doesn't seem to occur to him that he is a smug, sanctimonious, pseudo-intellectual, right-wing prig whom any self-respecting gay man would run away from. Maybe one of his friends should tell him.
Rating:
Summary: Dangerous reactionary nonsense
Review: Sullivan is the product of his background - an upper-middle-class Anglo-Catholic Oxford graduate. His book reads like a 250-page tutorial essay, except that no self-respecting Oxford tutor would let pass the mutliple inconsistencies and non-sequiturs in this tepid dribble of mental masturbation. He wants us all to be virtuous and abstinent, to replace our lovers with friends - yet in the year before his seroconversion he is so promiscuous that he has no idea who has infected him. A sermon in a Catholic church infuriates him, yet he goes on at inordinate length about the virtues of his faith and what we can learn from Jesus (pity he didn't learn modesty). His selective and misleading account of psychoanalytic theories of homosexuality would be risible if he didn't take his tedious self so seriously. He rightly attacks the notoriously homophobic analyst Charles Socarides, yet directs almost as much venom towards Richard Isay, an openly gay psychiatrist who has devoted enormous time and effort not only to working with gays but also to making such work respectable within the psychiatric profession in the USA. Sullivan wants to replace love by friendship because he has never found love and is looking for intellectual explanations of this empty place in his life. It doesn't seem to occur to him that he is a smug, sanctimonious, pseudo-intellectual, right-wing prig whom any self-respecting gay man would run away from. Maybe one of his friends should tell him.
Rating:
Summary: The definition of solipsism
Review: Sullivan writes like a five-year-old child who believes the center of the universe is him. He clearly has no compassion for anyone outside his demographic niche, despite the vehemence with which he proclaims his belief in Catholic doctrine. A mediocre journalist whose fame has arisen purely from his sexuality, he has no understanding (or desire to understand) the lives of those whom the world has treated in other ways.
Rating: 
Summary: Sullivan is always thoughtful and usually contoversial.
Review: The best reveiw I have read of Sullivan's book appeared this week in the Washington Post. I have heard Sullivan read from Love twice, and he makes the point that straight female reviewers concentrate more on the substance of the book and are more appreciative than many other readers. If you can locate that review, you may wish to read it. And there is much in his new book to appreciate. The three essays are pieces that recall the best of 19th century essay writing. And Love is also a religious confession, a love story, a prose elegy, and more. Sullivan is best as an essayist, though his personal recollections are as powerfully drawn as many novelists'. One of the highest compliments that can be paid Love was also true of Virtually Normal; even Sullivan's detractors are going to buy the book and devour it. Regardless of which side of the polical spectrum one is on, the strength of Sullivan's writing makes him required reading.
Rating:
Summary: Sullivan is always thoughtful and usually contoversial.
Review: The best reveiw I have read of Sullivan's book appeared this week in the Washington Post. I have heard Sullivan read from Love twice, and he makes the point that straight female reviewers concentrate more on the substance of the book and are more appreciative than many other readers. If you can locate that review, you may wish to read it. And there is much in his new book to appreciate. The three essays are pieces that recall the best of 19th century essay writing. And Love is also a religious confession, a love story, a prose elegy, and more. Sullivan is best as an essayist, though his personal recollections are as powerfully drawn as many novelists'. One of the highest compliments that can be paid Love was also true of Virtually Normal; even Sullivan's detractors are going to buy the book and devour it. Regardless of which side of the polical spectrum one is on, the strength of Sullivan's writing makes him required reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Sullivan at His Best
Review: The most striking aspect of Andrew Sullivan's latest book, "Love Undetectable," is its personal subtext. It's markedly different from his landmark book, "Virtually Normal," in that Sullivan shares with us his own life. In the first essay, "When Plagues End," he discusses his own sexual journey and how becoming HIV-positive reshaped his life. But not only that--Sullivan captures the feelings, moments and memories associated with his romances, spirituality and struggle for identity. It's a keyhole to a side of Sullivan we have never really seen, and it makes his writing more real and persuasive than ever. "Virtually Abnormal," his second essay, is not as personal, but thoughtfully and persuasively articulated. Here he delves into the most current media debate about gays--the origins of homosexuality and whether it can be changed through psychotherapy. Sullivan presents several theories and arguments, from both sides of the fence (here his writing style does resemble "Virtually Normal"). No matter where he turns, from the "genetic" to the "environmental" theory, we see that each position holds a piece of the truth, and there are no hard answers. Sullivan concludes that even though homosexuality is neither strictly "normal" or "abnormal," we should pay attention to society's reaction toward it, since "its treatment is a critical indicator of the endurance of...liberty in a free society." Friendship is the topic of "If Love Were All," in which Sullivan challenges us to reconsider and even resurrect the value of friendship. Gay friendships can be a model for straights, he says, since gay men are particularly good at forming lifelong bonds with each other. Sullivan argues that popular culture's notion of love has turned out to be "the great modern enemy of friendship," and we ought not discount the gift of true friendship--where candor and camaraderie are perhaps even more prevalent than in romantic relationships. Finally, we glimpse into his personal world again, as Sullivan remembers his best friend's death. Sullivan admits that Love Undetectable is "a very Christian book," but not in the sense of fanatical fundamentalism or evangelistic Christianity. He fuses his discussions of spirituality with humanity, reminding us in a powerful way that we participate in our own destinies. By the end of the book, we craved a fourth essay, perhaps tying the piece together (as he did in Virtually Normal's "What are Homosexuals For?") But he left us with the haunting images of death, life, and friendship, and we're left to wrestle with the meaning of all three.
Rating:
Summary: Sullivan at His Best
Review: The most striking aspect of Andrew Sullivan's latest book, "Love Undetectable," is its personal subtext. It's markedly different from his landmark book, "Virtually Normal," in that Sullivan shares with us his own life. In the first essay, "When Plagues End," he discusses his own sexual journey and how becoming HIV-positive reshaped his life. But not only that--Sullivan captures the feelings, moments and memories associated with his romances, spirituality and struggle for identity. It's a keyhole to a side of Sullivan we have never really seen, and it makes his writing more real and persuasive than ever. "Virtually Abnormal," his second essay, is not as personal, but thoughtfully and persuasively articulated. Here he delves into the most current media debate about gays--the origins of homosexuality and whether it can be changed through psychotherapy. Sullivan presents several theories and arguments, from both sides of the fence (here his writing style does resemble "Virtually Normal"). No matter where he turns, from the "genetic" to the "environmental" theory, we see that each position holds a piece of the truth, and there are no hard answers. Sullivan concludes that even though homosexuality is neither strictly "normal" or "abnormal," we should pay attention to society's reaction toward it, since "its treatment is a critical indicator of the endurance of...liberty in a free society." Friendship is the topic of "If Love Were All," in which Sullivan challenges us to reconsider and even resurrect the value of friendship. Gay friendships can be a model for straights, he says, since gay men are particularly good at forming lifelong bonds with each other. Sullivan argues that popular culture's notion of love has turned out to be "the great modern enemy of friendship," and we ought not discount the gift of true friendship--where candor and camaraderie are perhaps even more prevalent than in romantic relationships. Finally, we glimpse into his personal world again, as Sullivan remembers his best friend's death. Sullivan admits that Love Undetectable is "a very Christian book," but not in the sense of fanatical fundamentalism or evangelistic Christianity. He fuses his discussions of spirituality with humanity, reminding us in a powerful way that we participate in our own destinies. By the end of the book, we craved a fourth essay, perhaps tying the piece together (as he did in Virtually Normal's "What are Homosexuals For?") But he left us with the haunting images of death, life, and friendship, and we're left to wrestle with the meaning of all three.
Rating:
Summary: Please, Andrew, Stop Torturing Us!
Review: The only response to reading this book is attempting to place a legal gag order on poor little Catholic gay boy Andrew Sullivan, who longs to be accepted by the Church and other upstanding folk. The same man who said he contracted HIV "accidentally, not recklessly" as to separate himself from the Bad Queer writes an intolerable, self-obssessed book which proves every last word from his critics. If you know whats good for you, don't read this!
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