In Exile: The History and Lore Surrounding New Orleans Gay Culture and Its Oldest Gay Bar is the first comprehensive treatment of the history of gay New Orleans. Drawn primarily on the recollections of dozens of gay men and women, Frank Perez and Jeffrey Palmquist weave a fascinating narrative of how gay New Orleans evolved throughout the twentieth century. In addition to showing the incredible and previously unrecognized contributions gay people have made to New Orleans culture, In Exile also illuminates the darkness in which ordinary gay people lived secret double-lives for decades and chronicles the social forces which ultimately enabled gay New Orleanians to live openly and honestly. Written with graceful insight and thoughtful perception, In Exile is not only a captivating history book, it is also a beautiful meditation on the intersection of place and identity.

A companion to the groundbreaking bestseller Material World: A Global Family Portrait, this remarkable volume portrays the striking similarities and profound differences in the lives of women around the world at the dawn of the twenty-first century. Under the direction of Faith D’Aluisio and Peter Menzel, a team of renowned women journalists traveled the world to take a close look at the lives of women in twenty disparate lands. In first-person interviews of startling candor, the women share their feelings about family, children, money, love, sex, and marriage. These interviews, together with 375 stunning full-color photographs, create a powerful multicultural portrait of the half of humanity that all too often remains invisible.

Gay saunas are still popular as a convenient place to meet other gay men and enjoy uncomplicated sex. Our new sauna guide lists over 800 gay saunas worldwide in over 45 countries and gives our readers additional information on each location: simplifying the choice of which sauna to choose and when the action is at its best. Pictograms give the reader further facts about each sauna and photos of the saunas to make the choice of where to go even easier. A description of the sometimes unique sauna culture is described at the beginning of each country listed. This will help our readers to avoid disappointment and have fun with the locals. This indispensable guide will ensure that our readers find the action when they are on their next business trip or holiday.

Wide-Open Town traces the history of gay men and lesbians in San Francisco from the turn of the century, when queer bars emerged in San Francisco's tourist districts, to 1965, when a raid on a drag ball changed the course of queer history. Bringing to life the striking personalities and vibrant milieu that fueled this era, Nan Alamilla Boyd examines the culture that developed around the bar scene and homophile activism. She argues that the communities forged inside bars and taverns functioned politically and, ultimately, offered practical and ideological responses to the policing of San Francisco's queer and transgender communities. Using police and court records, oral histories, tourist literature, and manuscript collections from local and state archives, Nan Alamilla Boyd explains the phenomenal growth of San Francisco as a "wide-open town"--a town where anything goes. She also relates the early history of the gay and lesbian civil rights movement that took place in San Francisco prior to 1965.Wide-Open Town argues that police persecution forged debates about rights and justice that transformed San Francisco's queer communities into the identity-based groups we see today. In its vivid re-creation of bar and drag life, its absorbing portrait of central figures in the communities, and its provocative chronicling of this period in the country's most transgressive city, Wide-Open Town offers a fascinating and lively new chapter of American queer history.

Winner of the 2004 Prix de Flore-one of France's most distinguished literary prizes-a wildly romantic, true-life love story History follows a trail of sputtering desire, often calling upon the delusions of lovers to generate the sparks. If it weren't for us, the world would suffer from a dismal lack of stories," writes Bruce Benderson in this brutally candid memoir. "What astonishes and intrigues is Benderson's way of recounting, in the sweetest possible voice, things that are considered shocking," wrote Le Monde. What's so shocking? It's not just Benderson's job translating Céline Dion's saccharine autobiography, which he admits is driving him mad; but his unrequited love for an impoverished Romanian in "cheap club-kid platforms with dollar signs in his squinting eyes," whom he meets while on a journalism assignment in Eastern Europe. Rather than retreat, Benderson absorbs everything he can about Romanian culture and discovers an uncanny similarity between his own obsession for the Romanian (named Romulus) and the disastrous love affair of King Carol II, the last king of Romania (1893-1953). Throughout, Benderson-"absolutely free of bitterness, nastiness, or any desire to protect himself," wrote Le Monde-is sustained by little white codeine pills, a poetic self-awareness, a sense of humor, and an unwavering belief in the perfect romance, even as wild dogs chase him down Romanian streets.

The editorial team of the Spartacus Internationally Gay Guide works incessantly to present you with an up-to-date, comprehensive and worldwide overview of all the relevant addresses for the gay tourist. Naturally we do all this in order to present a product which earns the predicate "excellent". This effort on our behalf has not gone unnoticed: the IGLTA - that internationally Gay and Lesbian Travel Association - : In connection with our 40th anniversary, the Spartacus International Gay Guide was awarded the Hanns Ebensten Hall of Fame Award. A recognition that we have helped gay men for four decades who have explored the world with help from our guide.

Each tastefully illustrated card features step-by-step tips and tricks that will be welcome additions to any gay man's bedroom repertoire.