Andrew R. Gottlieb, is a clinical supervisor at the Corona Elmhurst Guidance Center in Jackson Heights, New York and maintains a private psychotherapy practice in downtown Brooklyn. He is also on the editorial board of the Journal of GLBT Family Studies. His previous works include Out of the Twilight: Fathers of Gay Men Speak (2000), Sons Talk About Their Gay Fathers: Life Curves (2003), Side by Side: On Having a Gay or Lesbian Sibling (2005), and (with Jerry J. Bigner) Interventions with Families of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender People: From the Inside Out (2006), all Haworth Press books. Visit his Web site at: www.andrewrgottlieb.com.
One of the most striking things about this collection is the easy integration of personal narrative and cultural analysis. Each of the essays incorporates life stories with acute observations about their meaning within gay male culture and the culture at large. . . . By reading these essays not only can gay men learn more about the value of their own attachments, but also anyone who has valued friendship will find the resources for imagining an infinitely diverse life with others. -- Eric O. Clarke, PhD, Associate Professor of English, University of Pittsburgh
THESE ESSAYS GIVE VOICE TO THE ENERGIES THAT GAY MEN GIVE TO FRIENDSHIPS, to how instrumental friendships are in the way they come to understand their sexuality and themselves, and how--especially to the most reclusive--friendships become a bridge to a wider world. What surprised me is how deeply AIDS permeates essay after essay and has come to define and transform the meaning of gay friendship. One must go back more than a decade to John Preston and Michael Lowenthal's collection Friends and Lovers to find a volume as ELOQUENT about the role of friendship in gay men's lives. -- David Bergman, PhD, Professor of English, Towson University; Author of The Violet Hour: The Violet Quill and the Making of Gay Culture
A RICH VARIETY OF CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES ON THE COMPLEXITY OF FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN GAY MEN TODAY. The essays range from Jeff Mann's poignant tribute to an early gay mentor, to Michael Thomas's auspicious internet hook-up, to Marc Vargo's tale of finding a new circle of support in Katrina's aftermath. A serendipitous highlight is Vincent Lankewish's touching account of coming to terms with a sense of otherness in the emotional high of male-bonding on the dance floor. Another unexpected high point is found in E. M. Kahn's thought-provoking recognition of how we transition from potential lovers to potential mentors in the eyes of younger men. Certainly one of the collection's finest pieces is Felice Picano's haunting portrait of a troubled roommate who somehow just wasn't made for this world. . . .Bears witness to the many unconventional and creative ways in which gay men continue to construct their relationships with friends, lovers, mentors, and companions in a world that has grown all too familiar with loneliness and loss. -- A. A. Markley, Associate Professor of English, Penn State University, Delaware County
CHARMING . . . a brief orientation to many of the key issues involved in Haley's strategic approach, case after case arranged along a life-cycle continuum, plus fascinating interviews illuminating key figures and moments in the history of family therapy--SHOULD SPARK THE IMAGINATION OF READERS INTERESTED IN CHANGING THE INTERACTION BETWEEN PEOPLE TO BRING ABOUT POSITIVE OUTCOMES. -- Michael F. Hoyt, PhD, author of Some Stories are Better than Others, Interviews with Brief Therapy Experts, and The Present is a Gift: Mo' Better Stories from the World of Brief Therapy