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Review

With 132 contributors, from Allison (Dorothy) to Wolfson (Evan), this collection of romantic fiction, goopy poetry, intense rants, dry legal defenses, witty wedding-day memoirs, and deeply personal vows takes a gander at queers and marriage from every possible perspective. This is good: for all the giddy hoopla and happy tears of individual ceremonies, an anthology honest enough to explore many sides of an issue that does indeed divide queers is overdue - and certainly a standout from the current deluge of wedding books. On the "I Don't" side, Cheryl Clarke declares, unambiguously, "Marriage trivializes our partnerships." On the "I Do" side, Jim Gladstone writes: "Every wedding is an exquisitely awkward marriage of idealism and acceptance... which in and of itself is a case for same-sex couples, isn't it?" And Christopher Bram straddles the middle ground with grace and eloquence: he and his partner of 25 years have no desire to wed, but what he loves "about gay marriage, without reservation, is how the very idea of it infuriates Christian conservatives."

Richard Labonte, Books to Watch Out For