Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered History in America »

This reference features over 500 topics--more than half of which are biographies--about issues, events, concepts, and figures pertinent to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender history in the US. The entries are directed at beginning undergraduates and the general reader. Among the entries on general topics are advertising, bookstores, Arab Americans, boycotts, churches, coming out, dance, economics, geography, language, and suicide. Profiles of the LGBT histories of several US cities and states are featured, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Michigan, Mississippi, and Portland (Ore.). A sampling of the figures whose biographies are included are Leonard Bernstein, Rachel Carson, Mary Daly, Ruth Ellis, Barney Frank, Jasper Johns, Carson McCullers, and Liberace. Volume 3 contains a major appendix listing repositories with LGBT materials in the US and Canada and a very thorough index. The selection of the entries and often self-consciously theoretical approaches of their writers reflect the ongoing, continually developing nature of this new field. The writers teach at American universities in fields that include American studies, cultural studies, gender studies, history, history of science, legal studies, LGBT studies, and literature. Editor Stein is at York U., Canada. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Library Journal

This invaluable work isn't just a fascinating read; it goes a long way toward alleviating the dearth of basic resources in the burgeoning field of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) studies. Stein (history, York Univ.; City of Sisterly and Brotherly Loves) has compiled more than 500 topical and biographical entries on the major events, personalities, places, and themes in a queer reading of more than 400 years of U.S. history. Alphabetically arranged and varying in length from a few paragraphs to several pages, the generally well-written entries are accessible enough for high school and college students new to the subject but sufficiently solid to serve as a departure point for scholarly research. Each entry includes a bibliography and See also references. Also included are a cross-referenced historical chronology, a directory of repositories of LGBT materials in the United States and Canada, a systematic outline of contents that groups all entries thematically, and a detailed index. One might cavil that the choice of entries, while emphasizing broad appeal, seems somewhat arbitrary, that some show business performers and icons (e.g., Rock Hudson, James Dean, Judy Garland) receive only cursory examination under broad subjects such as "Actors and Actresses," and that the odd entry is off the mark (Blanche Wiesen Cook's discussion of Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok comes across as a defensive apologia rather than reasoned research). But these drawbacks do not seriously detract from the most significant and comprehensive reference work in this field since the fine Reader's Guide to Lesbian and Gay Studies, edited by Timothy Murphy, was published in 2000. An essential purchase for any library serving LGBT researchers or readers.-Richard J. Violette, Special Libs. Cataloging, Victoria, B.C. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.