THEY WALK IN SHADOW

By J. D. Mercer. Published by Comet Press, New York, 1959

This fat, 573-page book by a male bisexual layman (he prefers the term "ambisexual") attempts to cover the subject of homosexuality from A to Z, and to strike a ringing blow for reform in the law and in social attitudes. It is an honest book, written in a frankly pleading style, but with an effort at objectivity, by one who has obviously given the subject considerable thought and study, and whose heart is undoubtedly in the right place.

This does not make it a good book. In fact it is a ram. bling, repetitious, heavy-handed amateurish effort which will convince few who need convincing. It may help a few guilt-ridden homosexuals with the persistence to plough through its pages. What it has to say could have been said more offectively in one third the space; and the reader pressed for time and without specialised interests will not lose much if he confines his attention to the Summary chapter.

The book contains chapters on historical references, on homosexual literature, psychosomatic aspects, homosexual emotions, causation factors, homosexual behavior, and on other topics, together with several chapters on the legal aspects of the question. (Do not expect the chapter headings, however, to provide more than the roughest kind of guide as to content.) Male homosexuality is the primary concern of the writer, though he refers to Lesbianism from time to time. There is something for almost every tasteincluding a description of sexual techniques for the curious. The book relies heavily on Kinsey, whose statistics are repeated at every opportunity, and on Albert Ellis, who is quoted liberally.

The author's point of view as to the nature of homosexuality is unorthodox: He considers that it is a form of arrested development in the evolutionary (not the psycho-

18