Rating: 
Summary: A big topic of discussion
Review: I sat on a plane recently reading this gripping book, and the man next to me said, "I've read that--you can't put it down." We talked about Signorile for quite some time. Then someone in back of us jumped into the conversation. This same thing happened to me recently while I was on the beach reading the book. A lot of gay men are talking about Life Outside and the issues it raises, and that's a good thing. The author just hits on things in a way that is uncanny. It's not that he says anything you don't know. It's that he says it when no one else will, and he defines it in a way that you recognize, and you think "Oh yeah!" It's really a gift. He shakes you up and makes you flesh things out. I disagreed with some of it and even got angry a couple of times. That's a successful book.
Rating: 
Summary: Dangerous Fluff
Review: I won't go into many of the points of other reviewers, but I found Signorile's view on Gay life and history one of the most disturbing books in recent memory. His confessional, tabloid style reminds me a bit of the kind of "fire and brimstone" preachers one might hear in the mountains where I grew up. They'll enthrall you with all their tales about their "wild" life of hard livin', fast wimmin', and guzzled booze, but, it's OKay, they're saved by the end of the book. Those preachers, of course, counted on the fact that you'd be enthralled by all their tales of moral corruption -- and counted on you not digging too deeply into anything else they had to say.The fact that "Life Outside" is so popular and well received by Gay men speaks sad volumes about a community that is more uncomfortable with itself than it was twenty or thirty years ago. In Signorile's limited world-view, Gay men either lead a life of hell and damnation in urban ghettos or find paradise in rural and suburban upscale niches -- there's no in-between, no subtle shades of gray here. If you're the type of Gay man who finds fullfillment in Gay bowling leagues (and nothing else), sees everyone except your own circle of friends as sleazy and sex-starved, and wishes to pretty much ignore a fascinating mosaic of Gay culture and history, then you'd enjoy this book enormously -- you'll agree with everything Signorile has to say. Those with more discriminating taste (or even just a few brain cells) might pick up a copy of Susan Faludi's "Stiffed" or a book by Daniel Harris instead. If you're just coming out, please, for God's sake don't buy this book -- talk to a real live Gay person and don't listen to drivel from a self-promoting plastic hack.
Rating:
Summary: Dangerous Fluff
Review: I won't go into many of the points of other reviewers, but I found Signorile's view on Gay life and history one of the most disturbing books in recent memory. His confessional, tabloid style reminds me a bit of the kind of "fire and brimstone" preachers one might hear in the mountains where I grew up. They'll enthrall you with all their tales about their "wild" life of hard livin', fast wimmin', and guzzled booze, but, it's OKay, they're saved by the end of the book. Those preachers, of course, counted on the fact that you'd be enthralled by all their tales of moral corruption -- and counted on you not digging too deeply into anything else they had to say. The fact that "Life Outside" is so popular and well received by Gay men speaks sad volumes about a community that is more uncomfortable with itself than it was twenty or thirty years ago. In Signorile's limited world-view, Gay men either lead a life of hell and damnation in urban ghettos or find paradise in rural and suburban upscale niches -- there's no in-between, no subtle shades of gray here. If you're the type of Gay man who finds fullfillment in Gay bowling leagues (and nothing else), sees everyone except your own circle of friends as sleazy and sex-starved, and wishes to pretty much ignore a fascinating mosaic of Gay culture and history, then you'd enjoy this book enormously -- you'll agree with everything Signorile has to say. Those with more discriminating taste (or even just a few brain cells) might pick up a copy of Susan Faludi's "Stiffed" or a book by Daniel Harris instead. If you're just coming out, please, for God's sake don't buy this book -- talk to a real live Gay person and don't listen to drivel from a self-promoting plastic hack.
Rating:
Summary: Provocative and challenging: Should be read by every gay man
Review: I've been passing this book on to friends every chance I get. I think every gay man should be aware of these issues, and read Sigorile's point of view. I like Signorile's directness and fearlessness. He reminds me of Camille Paglia. He doesn't take any crap from anyone. He says what feels. The attacks on him only seem to make his fame grow bigger and bigger. And he seems to capitalize on it briliantly. His style is easy and confident, and this makes a lot of people very comfortable with him. Dare I say , we're also attracted to him, physically and emotionally. When he came here to Miami Beach to Books and Books right in South Beach, it was like he was entering the belly of the beast of the gay party scene and the gay body culture. The Miami Herald played it up, making it seem like he'd be so controversial, and that there would a lot of trouble at the signing from people who disagreed with his book. Instead, the audience was totally entralled with him, including all of the muscle guys from the beach who came. We're still talking about. Great book.
Rating:
Summary: This book is just magnificent!
Review: I've just finished Life Outside and I truly think it has changed my life. I really will never be the same. I was so caught up in what Michelangelo Signorile calls the "cult of masculinity." I was putting all of my heart and soul into such superficial things. My whole self-worth was wrapped up in the gay scene, the gym, looking the part. And the bigger my muscles got, the more I got immersed in it. At first, I was afraid of this book, but the truth is that it becomes like a best friend, a book that really cares about its readers. I've really found myself in this book and found ways to navigate life. Signorile is not saying we must stop celebrating or partying or socializing. He's instead teaching us how to do this in a healthy way, how to pursue relationships, love and friendships in ways that are enriching. He's showing us how to deal with aging and how others are living their gay lives beyond the ghetto. He's not saying to leave the city--he loves the city. He's saying instead that the ways that we have come to expect gay men to live, influenced by traditions in the ghetto for years, are not the only way to be gay. He's saying that we can all learn from each other and look to each other, no matter where we live. I love this book and recommend it everywhere and to everyone and tell guys to give to their friends, even if it at first they're afraid or not interested.. I tell them just stick with it, and the magic takes over.
Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary
Review: It was extraordinary to read so many of my own thoughts, ideas and observations finally put down on paper by someone who shares them. Mr. Signorile is very perceptive. As someone who has lived in West Hollywood, Boystown in Chicago and for the last four years in Chelsea, I can attest to the veracity of his reporting. Those who claim it's not true just don't want to admit what the problems are. So they come up with cliches to put it down or they hurl names. Both immature responses. Gay men should read this book and be moved to action and energized to make real and positive changes in their culture.
Rating:
Summary: A Highly Constructive, Important Book
Review: Not in a while have I read such an artful piece of journalism. The author has an acute understanding of what drives gay men. Contrary to the Amazon characterization, Mr. Signorile truly is a celebrator of gay culture, and is proud of being a gay man in America as we approach the 21st century. But he wants it to be emotionally and physically healthy, something we can all strive for. His research is meticulous. Mr. Signorile has taken the pulse of gay male America and reported the findings to us in this superb book.
Rating:
Summary: Mindless drivel from a Chelsea clone wannabe
Review: Signorile chronically proves himself to be a tabloid gossip columnist who aspires to be perceived as an academic. Unfortunately, he just isn't smart enough, and his 'dissertations' read more like an eighth-grade language arts essay. One gets the feeling Signorile doesn't read or listen to others much - he spouts trite received opinion as though he finds his words profound.
Rating: 
Summary: an important discussion of critical gay male issues
Review: Signorile is not a great author, but a journalist and as such unfortunately does not do justice to his topic, the cult of masculinity. Its an important book, one whose thesis is vital to the expansion and development of contemporary gay culture. We can finally look away from our sexuality as the only defining quality of our lives and look towards other aspects of our lives to find fulfillment, like loving relationships with one another. I appreciate Signorile's attempt here, although not his methods. the book is painfully redundant and simplistic. It doesn't adequately dive into issues like the historical development of this tendency towards "hyper-masculinity." The writing is simply too casual, perhaps he was aiming low at the reader demograph, the typical out magazine reader. the book reads too much like a long article, he would have done well to simply distill the information into a long essay rather than a book. I believe that this subject deserves a book, it can save lives, and more importantly enrich many more. It has been criticized as neo-conservative, but what's the alternative, complete promiscuity? please! we are finally too smart and too in control of our own lives to be reduced to simple sexual beings, sexuality is important but should not be defining. I believe that the future of gay culture lies not in the drug induced fantasy world of gay nightclubs (which i also visit from time to time) but in the lives that we form with our partners. Forming real relationships based on love, trust and yes even commitment is the real high and its unfortunate that too many of us can't see that. Kudos to michelangelo for writing this important book but shame for not taking it seriously enough to make it a truly crtical expose of the unfortunate world that too many of us live in. I applaud the effort and constantly suggests it to every other gay man i know, i believe the critic on the back cover of the book that this should be given to every young gay man upon coming out, it may well make urban gay life tenable for all of us.
Rating:
Summary: Superb analysis of life in the gay male "fast lane."
Review: Signorile writes an insightful and long-overdue book on the self-destructive nature of current gay male circuit party life. While by no means representative of the gay community as a whole, he makes the very valid point that virtually everyone who is gay and male is affected by the standards promoted by this subgroup. The result is extremely damaging. Those who have attacked this book as intellectually inferior or "sex negative" miss the point. They are attempting to shift the discussion away from what are very ugly truths about much of gay male culture today. Fortunately, Signorile also offers insights into gay men who are choosing to build their lives outside of the gay urban demimonde - a model that is well worth emulating if gay men want to avoid the inevitable waves of disease and infection that are part and parcel of the "fast-lane" lifestyle and culture. A culture, I might add, with extremely distorted "values."
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