Culture writer and film critic Betancourt (
The Male Gazed: On Hunks, Heartthrobs, and What Pop Culture Taught Me About (Desiring) Men) reflects in this volume on chance interactions with strangers and the closeness that can arise from them. Meeting strangers can lead to infinite possibilities, he asserts, since people often present idealized versions of themselves to someone who does not know them well. Betancourt, who identifies as queer, uses his own experiences to examine encounters between strangers, particularly sexual encounters, including initial meetings, sexting, cruising, nudity, and polyamory, in settings as varied as bars, the internet, and bathhouses. He also analyzes media that features these encounters—books, movies, musicals, poetry, visual art. Betancourt muses on the nature of intimacy, the ways in which it can be created, and how intimates can become strangers when separated. Throughout the work, his frustration with categories and rigid relationship structures is readily apparent. He gives readers an honest assessment of his own intimacies and relationship hang-ups, all of which showcase his thesis that meetings between strangers can often be more honest than those between people who already know each other.
VERDICT A forthright examination of intimacy, sex, and the possibilities of interacting with strangers that will interest and engage a wide range of general readers.
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