a review

GAY

BAR

Helen P. Branson's candid tale of a "Gay Bar" takes you by the hand figuratively and leads you into the loves, lives and personalities of the other side of the coin. Though it deals exclusively with the male homo sexual and has no direct bearing on Lesbianism per se, it nevertheless tells a much-needed story.

It is obvious that Miss Branson is not a professional writer yet, but she more than compensates for the slight literary errors by telling with fascinating humor and deep compassion (not to mention a good deal of love) the plain truths of the upper echelon of male homo sexual society. That side of which is so often neglected or overlooked entirely.

This is no spiced up tale of a limp-wristed set of maladjusted and pitiable boys, but a clean honest story of the decent honorable responsible adult homosexual. This book is not fiction but fact, and undoctored fact as well. Probably the most amazing part of the book is the fact that Miss Branson is apparently one of the so-called "normal" and therefore her book is objective and not subjective. One more cheer for our side by a sincerely interested outsider.

Anyone male or female who makes any attempt to collect gay literature should include this book on his (or her) must buy list. (For how to buy it see the ad on page 26 of this issue.) A final word to those of you who do not read the literature generally because of the tone of helpless futility expressed by some of it, this book is happy and light-hearted and still retains a logical sense of balance. Read it, won't you.

B.G.