Cruising Culture : : Promiscuity, Desire and American Gay Literature / / Ben SantaMaria.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Edinburgh University Press Backlist eBook-Package 2013-2000
• VerfasserIn: SantaMaria, Ben,
• Place / Publishing House: Edinburgh : : Edinburgh University Press, , [2022]; ©2000
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Series: Tendencies: Identities, Texts, Cultures : TITC
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (224 p.)

Promiscuous sexuality remains a central source of cultural fear and fascination, as seen in the resurgence of heated debates within American gay culture on its place in the era of AIDS. Cruising Culture provides the first extensive critical examination of competing understandings and experiences of promiscuity, both in post-war American gay culture and in American culture more broadly.In this original and provocative book, Ben Gove unpicks the root assumptions and contradictions which contribute to dominant punitive notions of promiscuous sex and desire. He challenges normative dichotomies between 'good' monogamous sexualities and 'bad' promiscuous sexualities by illustrating the inherent promiscuousness of all sexual desire, regardless of consciously expressed attitudes to sexual practice. The reader is guided through the maze of conflicting attitudes towards promiscuity in American gay culture with innovative readings of texts by influential, but hitherto critically neglected, authors such as Andrew Holleran, Larry Kramer, John Rechy, Edmund White and David Wojnarowicz. The book also draws on numerous critical and historical perspectives to represent an intricate picture of promiscuous sexual life in contemporary America.Cruising Culture will be essential reading for gay/elesbian/queer studies, gender studies and American studies, and for anyone else seeking a thorough discussion of the complex debates surrounding promiscuity.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Series Editor's Introduction -- Introduction Passing Pleasures: Gay Men and Promiscuity -- 1. 'Crushed Intimacy': John Rechy and the Masculinisation of Gay Male Promiscuity -- 2. Loving the 'Alien': Larry Kramer and the Politics of Gay Male Promiscuity -- 3. 'A Landscape for Drifting': Promiscuity, Fantasy and Travel in the Memoirs of David Wojnarowicz -- Glancing Back -- Bibliography -- Index