The GLBTRT has been reviewing books and movies in its newsletter since the early 1990s. Trace the evolution of queer publishing through these historic reviews. This review was originally published in Vol. 4, No. 2, Summer 1992.
If a gay guide of national scope to nude resorts, beaches, and swimming holes exists, this reviewer has not found it. The gay traveler faces a dilemma; whether to wade through a national nudist guide, like The North American Guide to Nude Recreation (American Sunbathing Society), or an international guide, like Lee Baxandall’s World Guide, to find the few resorts noted for a gay clientele; or, whether to tum to a general gay travel guide, like Odysseus or Spartacus, there to seek out the clothes optional entries. Gay fold may, with good reason, choose the latter course. The subtext of the nudist guides, in text as well as photos, is unrelentingly hetero.
But both nudist guides are, to their credit, fine within their stated objectives. Both are also produced and updated by large, well established nudist associations. They are slickly produced, with glossy photos and attractive layout, taking the reader from the most lavish resort to secluded little hide-a-ways accessible only on foot. Baxandall’s Guide also advises the unwary sun worshiper to stay zipped up in certain innocent looking but notorious locations where police “action can be swift. (See the Central California section for a chilling photo.)
A good selection of gay and lesbian travel guides is found in The Big Gay Book (John Reston, Plume, 1991), pages 487-495.
Reviewed by David Soltesz
Fairview Park Regional Library
Fairview Park, Ohio
(A note from the Book Review editor: our copy of the 1983 edition has been requested 20 times on interlibrary loan and is currently out; our copy of the 1991 edition (added February 14, 1992) is currently out on interlibrary loan and we have received 2 requests since it was loaned. Please add this book to your collections so our library patrons can have it!)