Rating: 
Summary: Good Book on Baseball but not that great for gay content
Review: Billy Bean really gives you the insight on what it's like to play baseball professionally. How hard the life is with all the moving around etc. How frustrating it is to be in the majors and then sent "back down". His love of the game really shines through.It is a good "gay" book to show how hiding your identity and staying closeted really makes your life hard. How coming out is the only way to make your life complete. However I felt like Billy did not share much of his personal life about his realtionship. I did not really feel like I knew the people in his life. This was very lacking. When I was done I didn't really feel like I loved the book or would recommend it to others. It wasn't bad (like the horrible self pitying Greg Louganis book) but it wasn't great either.
Rating: 
Summary: Valuable story for all!
Review: Billy gives us a remarkable journey thru what goes on behind the scenes in baseball. I read it straight through on a weekend wanting to absorb every page. I think every guy who has played sports will more readily recognize the negative impact of homophobic commentary on both straight and gay athletes. It should be required reading for all coaches and a part of any classes on ethics in sport.
Rating:
Summary: Milestone on the road to acceptance
Review: Billy's generation lost some of its best to AIDS, and as he explains in his book he only escaped it by sheer luck. Perhaps it was for the best that the social stigma against homosexuality was powerful in the 80s, before men learned how deadly unprotected sex could be. At least a few, like Billy, had less exposure than they would have had if sex between males were as accepted as it is today.
Then again, without the anti-gay attitudes of late-20th century America, perhaps the disease -- and the means to avoid it -- would have been discovered more quickly, and lives would have been spared. This is a debate about which I've not reached a conclusion.
It is safe to conclude, however, that Billy's book will do a lot of good if it gets the readership it deserves. The daguerreotype of an All American, Billy grew up in what would ordinarily be considered a challenging family situation to become everyone's hometown favorite. He subjugated his sexual desires to his compulsion to please in a manner rare among straight and gay alike. That he felt the need to stay in the closet as long as he did is not surprising. The number of men of his generation and older locked in even tighter closets would surprise a lot of people.
What is surprising is the sympathy Billy and his co-author, Chris Bull, generate from simply telling the facts of Billy's life. Billy assiduously avoids portraying himself as a victim -- he got to live out his childhood dream for more than a decade, he enjoyed love, and he remains today surrounded by more love than ever before. Yet the facts in "Going the Other Way" show that he was, indeed, the victim of anti-gay bias, in countless ways and for his entire baseball career.
It is the compelling reporting of those facts that will make Billy's book invaluable to young men struggling with their sexuality, particularly in communities where tolerance remains an unfulfilled aspiration. The book could be of service to straight young men who need to realize that sexual orientation is relevant to neither personal friendship nor professional collegiality. This book speaks to Billy's generation about changing views of sexuality; to Billy's elders about the nation they created for us; and to Billy's juniors about the people they can become, if they learn that it isn't the gender of someone who is loved that is important. It's the love that's important. Although the game is mentioned on almost every page, and gay baseball players and fans will therefore appreciate it as a good baseball book, this isn't a book about baseball. It is a book about love. It's a good baseball book, but it's a great book about love.
Rating:
Summary: New Teen Classic?
Review: By now, most people who follow baseball and/or [homosexual] issues have heard of Billy Bean, so I'm not going to re-cap that information. What I found important and valuable was the writing style and contents, which seems deliberately pointed at teen readers. In this respect, I hope this book become a new teen "must-read" for [homosexual] kids who need to hear a story like this. Billy honestly shares all of his triumphs, tragedies and just plain human failings in a manner that kids can relate to, and even share with their parents. I wish I had a book like this when I was 15. I probably would have made different decisions in my life.
Rating:
Summary: Wanting it to be more...
Review: Certainly we all commend Billy Bean on the stand he's taken and the role model he plays for all of us and for closeted professionals around the world. His story is much like the story of coming out late that many of us share. I was hoping to learn in more detail the unique angle in his experience he could share - that of a professional athlete and deeper insights into how gays move forward as professional athletes and as professionals in general. Four fifths of the book recounts his story of growing up, playing baseball, his thoughts when realizing his sexual orientation. The last part of the book is, by far, the most revealing and insightful of individuals from his past and their perspective on homosexuality in baseball and professional sports. More of that would have made the book completely worthwhile. In the end, though, I still like the book and the effort Billy Bean took to write it and share his thoughts. (I read the book in one sitting, so it's a good read). Billy Bean still has more to tell.
Rating:
Summary: Immensely Insightful
Review: I can easily identify with Billy Bean: the way he grew up consumed with a passion for competing in sports, slowly realizing he might be gay, denying it to himself, pretending to be someone he wasn't and missing out on the opportunity to be himself. I think I'm finally nearing the end of this painful cycle and reading this book gave me so much hope for telling my family the truth. What's worse: being a gay man or denying the people who are closest to you the opportunity to truly know you...
Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ BOOK!!! BRUTALLY HONEST!
Review: I LOVED THIS BOOK. I BOUGHT IT BECAUSE OF ITs GOOD EDITORIAL REVIEWS. IT WAS a GREAT BOOK.BILLY BEAN HAS DONE A GREAT JOB WRITING THIS BOOK . IT IS VERY HONEST , MOVING AND SURPRISING AND AT TIMES IT IS REALLY SAD. I ADMIRE BILLY BEAN. EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT INTO SPORTS LITERATURE. PLEASE READ THIS BOOK. BILLY BEAN IS AN INSPIRATION. THIS ONE WILL REALLY MAKE YOU THINK. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.
Rating:
Summary: Billy Bean's GOING THE OTHER WAY
Review: I read this book for the first time last year and I heartily recommend it. Billy discusses his career in baseball, his life as a (...)man and his life in general. He is a terrific role model for (...)youth and all youth. I would give the book more than 5 stars if I could do so.
Rating:
Summary: Great story that DARES TO COMPARE
Review: I'm not so much of a sports person especially when it comes to baseball. I don't even know how to watch the football and understand the game. That's not the point, I believe, why Bean decided to tell the story. It's about dignity, pride, and respect that every one deserves! This book reminds me of my own similar pain and discrimination I went through just because I'm gay! There're those who prefer to hide and live the lies and those who dare to make their voices heard! Bean has been through both to know better. This book will make you appreciate your life better, respect yourself more, and proud to be who you are. Whenever you think you're alone, this book will remind you that someone is on your side and supports when you'll have to fight for what you believe....as a human being!
Rating:
Summary: Great story that DARES TO COMPARE
Review: I'm not so much of a sports person especially when it comes to baseball. I don't even know how to watch the football and understand the game. That's not the point, I believe, why Bean decided to tell the story. It's about dignity, pride, and respect that every one deserves! This book reminds me of my own similar pain and discrimination I went through just because I'm gay! There're those who prefer to hide and live the lies and those who dare to make their voices heard! Bean has been through both to know better. This book will make you appreciate your life better, respect yourself more, and proud to be who you are. Whenever you think you're alone, this book will remind you that someone is on your side and supports when you'll have to fight for what you believe....as a human being!
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