From the savage murder of a eighteen—year—old street youth far from home, to the author's search for the meaning of chosen family on the rust colored beaches of Prince Edward Island, Looking For Brothers presents a gay man's unique and captivating view of Canada— a native son's look at the culture and citizens who have shaped our consciousness. Spanning an eleven year period, these essays by award—winning journalist Michael Rowe examine, with a startling blend of objectivity and subjectivity, the places that society has allocated to gay men, and the places gay men have claimed for themselves: physically, emotionally, sexually, and geographically. They unflinchingly explore the carved in stone truisms cherished both by straight and gay society, in an attempt to dismantle the limiting stereotypes each group holds of themselves and the other, and to find the place where the two cultures meet. On themes including gay men in sports and the military; same—sex marriage; narcissism and the cult of male beauty; AIDS and the euthanasia debate; pornography and the limits of censorship; family, chosen and otherwise; the questionable merits of the ghetto; and a yeasty celebration of liking straight men; Looking For Brothers brings together for the first time Rowe's most acclaimed gay—themed writing. With this collection, Michael Rowe secures his position as one of Canada's most thoughtful and provocative jounalist—essayists, and one of our foremost gay writers.

In 2003, Michael Rowe became the first Arsenal Pulp Press author to win a Lambda Literary Award, for Queer Fear II, the sequel to his first critically-acclaimed queer horror anthology, Queer Fear. He is an award-winning independent journalist who has lived in Beirut, Havana, Geneva, and Paris. His work has appeared in the National Post, the Globe and Mail, the United Church Observer, and numerous other publications. He has been a finalist for both the Canadian National Magazine Award and the Associated Church Press Award in the United States. He is the author of several books, including Writing Below the Belt, a critically acclaimed study of censorship, pornography, and popular culture, and the essay collections Looking for Brothers and Other Men's Sons, which won the 2008 Randy Shilts Award for Nonfiction. A contributing writer to The Advocate, in 2009 The Atlantic Monthly's Andrew Sullivan nominated Rowe for the Michael Moore Award "for divisive, bitter and intemperate left-wing rhetoric" for his work on The Huffington Post for which he is a political blogger. He considers it his proudest moment as a new media journalist.

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In this engaging collection of essays and articles, Canadian writer Rowe (Writing Below the Belt) presents a multifaceted perspective on "the common threads that run through" gay mens' lives. Ultimately, Rowe makes it clear that the gay man's story is the story of his extended family in the largest human community. In the book, fellow writer Michael Riordon helps Rowe understand "gay lifestyle" when he comments, "What does that mean? There is a desire to have a meaningful life, to love, to be loved. I experience the world differently from a heterosexual, but that doesn't mean that I necessarily want different things." To his credit, Rowe's subjects range from those as celebrated as gay Olympian Mark Leduc to the less well known but no less interesting: the closing piece, "Twenty—Five Yards from Shore," is both a striking glimpse of Rowe's own quest for fulfillment and a particularly fine example of his poetic facility with the essay. Academic and public libraries will want this for their gay/lesbian studies collections as well as for collections devoted to social history and to writing.
—Roger Harris, Fordham Univ. at Lincoln Ctr. Lib., New York
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
An appealing collection of essays and articles on issues central to the gay community. Award—winning Canadian journalist and author Rowe (Writing Below The Belt, not reviewed) provokes and enlightens with his musings on the contemporary gay experience. A major theme is the sometimes blatant, sometimes subtle prejudice gays encounter. Of particular concern is the tormenting isolation and fear of sudden, violent death, especially by gay teens. In the opening essay, ''Requiem for Junior,'' Rowe laments the murder of 18—year—old transvestite Sean Keagan, ''a sad reminder that society will always view some people as more expendable than others, and that the streets are carnivorous.'' In ''Justice Deferred,'' Rowe takes on his country's legal system for allowing Dennis Hurley to be extradited to Mexico to stand trial for his lover's death, contending that it would be impossible for Hurley to receive a fair trial in a country as homophobic as Mexico, whose legal system includes no presupposition of innocence. Particularly engaging is Rowe's discussion of the controversy within the gay community over same—sex marriage. While Rowe, who has been monogamous for most of his adult life, contends that the prohibition against gay marriage reinforces the ''false notion'' of heterosexual superiority, others within the gay community fiercely oppose gay marriage as bourgeois, while still others are too enamored of their outsider status to conform to society's institutions. Although most of Rowes reflections are serious, he does provide some light moments. ''In Praise of Straight Men'' is a good—humored paean to straight men who, lacking the drama of gay men, are ''definitely lower—maintenance than their gay counterparts.'' For while gay men obsess over their looks, straight men ''just assume they're good looking even if they aren't.'' And a straight man rarely ''spends forty—five minutes of sobbing in the bathroom because the souffl fell.'' A heartfelt collection that should win its author a wide readership. —— Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates