The Mythology of Transgression: Homosexuality As Metaphor

Rating:
Summary: Bumpy Ride
Review: I bought the book because I love the title. This is an intense book that reminds me that I often don't go far enough in my own thinking. He is right when it comes to the level to which gays are outside the norm. His first chapter on the assumptions that have misguided science and sociology where enlightening to me. This book allows the reader to contemplate the creation of categories such as male/female and heterosexual/homosexual. I do wish the author would throw out some ideas as to why this all might have occurred. Knowing the motivation behind the reigning mythology might help in dismantling such myths and their destructive effects. Pointing out the source of the problem is just the first step. This book is more of a philisophical discourse than an in depth recounting of the myths of homosexuality and transgression. Also, I can't really excuse some of the loose cultural commentary in the book: "By becoming 'average' many gay people have failed to become anybody. Somehow the hope to be accepted has been confused with the determination to be compliant." I find no way to respond to these comments. I see them as wasted energy until we can track down these nebulous "many gay people" he speaks of, which of course you can't. It doesn't help that I am among the generation younger than the author. His musings on the current gay climate are generally pessimistic and without much focussed speculation. He loves the French Symbolist poets (Baudelaire,Mallarme, and Rimbaud). However, his approach to the enclaves of transgressors in Paris, New York, and Silverlake with their overriding gay sensibility comes dangerously close to the heterosexual Garden of Eden, which he happily debunks. Are these enclaves now on-line? Highwater speculates more on my generation's "assimilation" than our current moving forward of humanity. I am totally bitter. Highwater is at his best when he lets a bit of his personality shine through, which he does from time to time. I loved the scope of his thinking and his ability to span centuries. I found his ability to make far-reaching comparisons exhilirating even if they ultimately don't succeed. For example, I wasn't bothered by his brief comparison between the general reaction to AIDS and the general reaction to Polio. This book is also a wonderful sourcebook for recent intellectual thinking. Unfortunately, the typos and missed words were plentiful and annoying. I enjoyed the ride despite the few bumps. Viva Trangsression!

Rating:
Summary: A BOOK THAT SPEAKS TO EVERYONE
Review: Mr. Highwater's encyclopedia knowledge, his original and completely convincing analogies, and his fleet, transparent musical prose make a book that both creates an extraordinary world of its own and also - brilliantly, unforgettably - illuminates the world in which we live. The book speaks to everyone - gay, straight, other - looking for a new way to synthesize the religious, political, aesthetic, and physcological legacies that make up who we are.

Rating:
Summary: AMAZON.COM'S CRITIC GOT IT RIGHT: A REMARKABLE BOOK
Review: There are so many biased books for and against outsiders in general and homosexuals in particular that it is extremely agreeable to find a book that has both scope, poetry, and a remarkable vision of the worldwide community, past and present. Highwater takes on homosexuality as the most vivid metaphor of the outsider and in the process provides a rather spectacular view of the Western world from THE OUTSIDE!! The scholarship is remarkable. The language is as fluent as a novel. The ideas stimulating and eye-opening. Altogether, a most intriguing, not-to-be-missed book.