Volleyball With the Cuna Indians: And Other Gay Travel Adventures

Rating:
Summary: Inventor of Gay Travel Reveals not-quite all.
Review: This is a collection of autobiographical memoirs,
each one recounting an episode in the author's life - ftom his escape from Nazi Germany as a boy to his retirement in Key West, Fl. some sixty years later. Along the way he mrrts, hob-nobs with and guides some of the rich-and-famous, (as well as the 'used-to-be' and the 'wanna be'). English titles, Italian princesses, African Kings - all play supporting roles in Mr. Ebersten's drama whidh makes for fascinating reading. Finally, after forty years in the travel business and emigrating to New York, Mr. Ebensten gets the idea that gay men might like to travel together and so the first gay travel agency is launched, amid much scepticism on the part of the Industry. He was spectacularly right, of course; LGBT travel is now Big Business indeed, with a whopping share of the market. But the reader of these travel vignettes will wince, chuckle, and be amazed at the pitfalls, successes, and failures of some of the author's enterprises. Ebensten is brutally fair, and the ill-mannered oaf, (no matter how rich, titled, or gay),who spoil the fun, evoke his scorn as much as the elderly, feeble, but very knowledgeable, woman who is fun and a good sport earns his praise and admiration. This is not alwats "politically correct" but is very revealing., and always readable.

These tales are told from a gay perspective, of course, but they are not "gay" stories with perhaps one exception, his sory of a night in Florance, Italy with 98 motorcycle cops (!) In fact,, one of the failings of this very literate, informed, and entertaining writer is that we do not often learn of his personal involment in the proceedings. He is an observer, a faciltator, a a reporter, a commentator, but we never know how much of a participator. We get tantalizing tid-bits, (he likes leather, 'staches, muscular Greek boys, etc.), but not enough to build up a mosaic picture. He comes across sometimes as fussy, a bit humorless, and even prudish, which cannot be his dominant personality cinsidering his success as a travel agant, guide, and conpanion. Nevertheless, the characters he writes about more than make up for any lack of his owm.

"Volleyball wiht the Cuna Indians" is perhaps,not for everyone. The author assimes his readers know a few words of Latin, French, German and Spanish; also that they have read more widely than the Sports pages. Given his Euro-English upbringing of the 1930's and thet Mr. Ebensten is now nearing eighty, this reader quite forgave these rather quaint, old fashioned notions. Take the trip with Hans. You will be erll rewarded. I wqa!