The image - often self-image - of gay men: They are self-absorbed, hypersexual,
hedonistic, and promiscuous. The reality, argued with well-researched passion
in _The Soul Beneath the Skin_: Contemporary gay men are highly ethical, remarkably
nonviolent, heavily involved in both gay and nongay charity and volunteer
work, and often happily enmeshed in circles of
lovers and friends that endure for decades. Nimmons has nimbly pulled together
personal experience, statistical analysis, and cultural and anthropological
studies, then enlivened and enriched his daunting array of facts with an engaging,
persuasive philosophy suggesting that gay men ought for the most part to be
proud of who they are. His optimism is visionary.
And - with this book as a text - Nimmons is currently taking his gay-is-great
mantra to workshops around America, in which he calls for gays to explore
"Manifest Love" - a "national project ... to help gay men find
new ways to be with and for each other," a screed articulated in the
book's cheerfully gung-ho last chapter, "Men for a New Millennium."
Even readers leery of movements, however, will find much to encourage and
enlighten them in this
dynamic, often witty guide to what the author reads as the elemental goodness
of the gay male community.