Men's Health Books

While the cover is a bit misleading this is a good lay person's book to reducing body fat with realistic goals, nutrition and exercise. Aside from the usual exercise and diet advice, the book also talks about the effects of overweight on personal lives, appearances and even sex. While I would not recommend all of the nutritional advice, I have to admit, that the book's recipes are easy to follow. There is not consideration for food allergies, metabolic rates, climatic environment or age. This book is a good start for the average male on losing weight. Do not expect any cutting edge workouts or nutritional advice. It is all middle of the road advice that works for some people, but not all of the population.

Doug Setter
author of Stomach Flattening and One Less Victim

The chapter on eating disorders was especially fascinating, and while some portions were a bit more psychodynamic than is in accord with my tastes, still a good read. It's worth noting that this is geared towards practitioners treating members of the gay & lesbian community and is *not* (thankfully) a guide to "conversion therapy".

Mark's assessment of how gay men grow, evolve, and eventually survive in the world is right-on. Gay Body is an incredibly well written account, full of poetic and historical references that have been all too often left out of contemporary accounts of male homosexuality. Gay men have a rich and varied cultural history that Mark so vividly recreates in his book.

It's not very often that I pick-up a book and read it right through without putting it down; Thompson's Gay Body was an exception.

This is definitely more for pro-gay therapists than their gay male clients. It's a lifespan text, ranging from childhood memories to the aging process. One of the last sections is on gay men and aging. This ads to the growing and needed literature on older gay men. This book is full of exercises and thus might not go as in depth as readers who want to delve deeply into various topics. Key issues covered here are drug recovery, AIDS, depression, etc. The author works out of New Mexico, rather than San Francisco, so I think he's probably had to work with gay men that have had to face much homophobia outside of many coastal, liberal environments.

I was looking for anecdotes of men in therapy. I had read Men's Dreams, Men's Healing by Robert Hopcke and was looking for more of the same. This book is NOT that. It reads more like a dissertation that has been turned into a book. There are references to other works at least once a paragraph. Once I got over the dry format, I actually got a lot out of this book. It's really a book for professionals in the field, but not hard to follow for layfolk. It's his theory in relation to other theories. If this is ok with you, go for it. If not, I'd suggest Iron John by Robert Bly(myth emphasized) or the Hopcke book(clients emphasized), a bit more juice. But this book is very good for what it is.

This book offers practical and thoughtful advice for specific health care scenarios and problems that gay and lesbian patients encounter. It is meant for patients but can also benefit health care works who wish to better understand the specific problems of this patient population and who hope to serve them better. If you are gay / lesbian /bisexual and know that you will be interacting with the health care system for any extended period of time (e.g., you are sick or pregnant, etc) then it is worth it to at least peruse this book.

Dian Hanson's fourth history of adult magazines covers the stuff that wasn't on the newsstands. A whole range of titles (least in the US) was only for buying in the adult bookstore or the local liquor store. This rather restricted distribution actually enabled publishers to offer fairly explicit editorial content without worrying about who might be offended. The book has several chapters devoted to American titles with hundreds of covers and inside photos. I was rather impressed with the number of first issue covers shown though I expect many of them never got to a second edition.

Whether the titles were sold in adult bookstores or on Main Street (volume three covers that market) the cover lines were the same, suggestive come-ons and heavy use of the word 'Sexsational'. The titles could be a lot more explicit although there are only so many words to describe the contents: Raw, Pagan, Snap, Sheer, Boudoir, Pleasure, Sassy, Highball, Gusto, Vixen, Tip Top, Thigh, Slip & Garter, Nylon Mood oh and don't forget the old favorite, anything ending with ...O-Rama, like Leg-O-Rama.

Each chapter has a short essay (in English, German and French) followed by plenty of photos. Elmer Batters the leg connoisseur, Irving Klaw: Mister Bondage or Milt Luros, who gave the Californian slicks a lift, are some of the personalities of the period that get a chapter each. Europe has some coverage, especially Harrison Marks in England with his digest-size titles. Considering that Ms Hanson has worked in the adult mag business for some years and obviously knows the market I was surprised to find very little technical detail about the magazines, like their circulation, profitability or distribution.

I mentioned in my review of the first two volumes that I felt that the paper quality should have been better and this applies to this edition. The images are in 175dpi but they tend to soften when printed on this matt stock, especially the full-page color covers.

Still, this book covers a vibrant period of the adult magazine market with plenty of visual stuff to support the text.

Alright guys...forget all the glossy magazines and latest studies. This little book tells you everything you really did not want to know about YOUR body. And then you can't unknow what you know...it's then up to you to make use of the very factual information and make the best of what you've got to work with.

There are certain words society considers taboo, 'impotence'
is one of them. It is still one of the most misunderstood health
conditions, partly because it carries a stigma, in the minds of
many that suggests failure. Ms. Marie puts emphasis on the
metamorphosis that can occur, due to stress, when a husband cannot
consummate the physical aspect of marriage. And after reading
IMPOTENCE: THE DARK SIDE, some questions about this condition will
be answered.

Ms. Marie uses this book to tell her story and share the emotional
turmoil couples experience when a man denies that his impotence is
real. As a result of her emotional roller coaster ride, her life took
a destructive path. She was consumed by 'the dark side': depression,
memory shut down, alcoholism and suicide attempts. After the emotional
dust settled, she started a crusade to educate those who have lost
themselves and feel trapped in a hopeless situation.

Using excerpts from medical journals along with personal interviews
she hopes to give credibility to why individuals react so negatively
to impotence. Statistically the numbers that equate to impotence are
overwhelming, it affects an estimated 30 million men. But what is
more astounding is the number of men who choose to placate this
situation and fail to seek help.

IMPOTENCE: THE DARK SIDE, is divided into sections which describe the
condition of impotence and impotence denial, common signs of
physical and emotional abuse, and gives resources where readers can
obtain help for themselves. With this information Ms. Marie hopes to
remove the associated stigma and increase the awareness of readers.
This is a bold step for a writer entering the literary arena.

Reviewed by aNN
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

This book is very informative on the differences in the current spectrum of views on psychology. It gives an in depth analysis on how these views affect different women of color. Some may try to call this a self help book, but I would think of it as more as trying to let some women know they are not alone in their struggles of migration and changing family views and roles.