It’s a hilarious, irreverent, and eye-opening journey
into the big gay world of pop culture as:
Richard Andreoli, Tom Atwood, Kevin Aviance, Pete Burns, Ted Casablanca, David Ciminelli, Wilson Cruz, Smith Galtney, Dennis Hensley, James Huctwith, Dan Jinks, Aaron Krach, Drew Limsky, Chris Lisotta, Jay Manuel, Nolé Marin, John Cameron Mitchell, Jorge Palomo, Joe Phillips, Parker Ray, Christopher Rice, John Rutherford, and Dave White explain why
Aaron Spelling, Alias, Brad Davis, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Cindy Sherman, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenwiler, Glitter, Grace Jones, Grease, Hole, Lynda Carter, Mary Tyler Moore, Midnight Express, My So Called Life, The Narnia Chronicles, Sandman, Shawn Colvin, Showgirls, The Smiths, Sid & Marty Krofft, Steve Buscemi, Strangers with Candy, and Wonder Woman have more to do with the formation of the contemporary queer consciousness than Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand and Bette Davis could ever hope to.

“In and Out pisses me off,” writes editor Rick Andreoli in his introduction to Mondo Homo (Alyson Books, November 2004) continuing to say that “it panders to straight ideas about gay men by leaning on tired jokes about Barbra Streisand and other antiquated stereotypes…while there is some lingering cultural authenticity in Kevin Kline’s role, his character is no one I recognize in my 20- and 30-something set.”

So what is contemporary queer culture? And has its evolution been overlooked at the same time that it is being felt in ways stronger than before?

Mondo Homo charts the queer sensibility and as it is reflected in pop culture and in the lives of the gay men who experience it.

Chapters on film, TV, music, books, theatre, art, fashion, media, fitness, gay neighborhoods, travel, club culture, gay gatherings, porn and sex include essays by top journalists on the formation of their individual queer sensibility. Sidebars on topics such as first celebrity crushes, Rules for Displaying Gay Pride in the Gay Ghettos, What Drinks Every Gay Man Should Know How to Make (and what each one says about the drinker) Singers Lesbians Love (And Whose Work Every Gay Man Should Own) and lists on everything from Wilson Cruz’s Top 11 List of TV Shows Every Gay Man Should Watch and Christopher Rice’s Top 10 Books That Every Gay Man Should Own to Jay Manuel’s Five Worst Male Fashion Trends and John Rutherford’s Top 5 Funniest Moments on a Porn Set round out what is, without question, the most complete explanation of why gay men are the way they are (and why straight America wants to be them!).

So bump and twirl onto the dance floor with a host of hotties, witness the death of cutoffs and Timberland boots, genuflect before the altar of Showgirls, Mean Girls, and the Spice Girls, traverse the globe to the naughtiest sex spots, score a porn-star boyfriend, pounce on Pansy Division and sizzle with the Scissor Sisters and understand why it's your duty to go out and get laid right now!

Mondo Homo…it’s a new world. Boldly go!