naked, in the midnight ocean, then go to his house, where George talks rather too frankly . . . The book ends with him asleep.

Christopher Isherwood has written many books. In none has his considerable talent been better deployed. To this theme seldom has more literacy or intelligence or real individuality been brought. George is not a wholly likeable character. Which of us, were we to outline honestly our thoughts and actions of any one day, could claim to be wholly likeable? Yet he possesses a wisdom-about life's meaning, and, yes, the meaning of death also, what love means, what sex means, what it means to grow older as a homosexual-which sets sets him apart as a human being of real distinction.

This is a book it would be difficult to overpraise. It is beautiful but not too beautiful to be true. It is now and then distasteful, but with the kind of frankness we can expect in life only from our oldest closest friends. It is not just a novel it is an experience. I think I can promise that you will never forget it, once you have read it, brief though it is. It has the ring of utter conviction. While never maudlin, it is moving. I have never read anything more steadfastly honest about the inner life of a mature homosexual.

-James Colton

THE HISTORICAL ROAD OF EASTERN ORTHODOXY by Alexander Schmemann, Holt Rinehart Winston, 1963, $6.50,

343 PP.

Homosexuals, like heterosexuals, are interested in religion. Many readers have written ONE concerning the article by W. Dorr Legg, "A Moral Imperative" (December, 1963). Earlier we had letters on Father Bernard Newman's article "The Path of Truth," (July, 1963).

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For those, therefore, who want to know more about the background of the only church known to us that accepts homosexuals into full membership, this book, The Historical Road of Eastern Orthodoxy, is a very good beginning, since it covers also the history of all Christian churches. It is easy reading, pulls no punches about why Christians say one creed rather than another, paints the Saints honestly, and is good historically, philosophically and politically.

Even such popular works as Gore Vidal's Julian (see review August, 1964) are made more understandable by the knowledge gotten from this book by Alexander Schmemann. With so many books being published, and at such high prices, both fiction and non-fiction, it is a pity such a large number are worthless. This book is very worthwhile for those seeking answers to religious questions.

W. E. G. JONATHAN TO GIDE, The Homosexual In History, by Noel I. Garde, Vantage Press, 1964, $10.00, 751 pp.

This is a superb biographical dictionary of 300 famous male homosexuals. It is a must for anyone seriously interested in homophilia. For those who write and do research on the subject, this work is, and will always be, manna from heaven, saving countless hours of chasing material from book to book and often from library to library.

The entries are chronological. Much of the material is the cut and dried historical facts with the homosexual material tersely given at the end, but Mr. Garde has peppered the material. His occasional racy comments and prejudices may to some seem out of place in a biographical dictionary, but then this is no ordinary dictionary, and it permits the book to be read as if it were a novel. The continual "stud service" reference as to the fav-