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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Doesn't live up to expectations, 21 Sep 2006
This book is a great general guide to london, with some interesting facts and figures and some nice history...
.... but to be honest, given the strength of time out's gay section in their weekly magazine was frankly a little disapointed.
Gay men are not all about shopping, eating and drinking (and most of these seemed to be gay friendly at best) - more information on what being gay in london is about, better articles on the actual groups that make up the community (the section that actually outlined what sports groups, venues and such was tucked away at the back of the books - as if an after thought), and a little 'insider' infomation could be handy..... as you kinda expect from other guidebooks.
Stick to buying the Time Out Mag to find out what things are on in the community
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5.0 out of 5 stars
3rd time lucky. What a rebirth!, 29 April 2007
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
Since the time I originally wrote this review a new radically overhauled 3rd edition by a different new editor (Hugh Graham) has come out... The positive change in the quality of the guide has been nothing short of dramatic and impressive! They have actually put right almost every single issue I raised in my previous review, and this is now the turn-around kid in the collection of Time Out guides; possibly the finest gay and lesbian city guide ever produced. Almost faultless at present. A more detailed review will follow from me in future. From one star... to five star... No make-over show will give you more exhilaration!
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THIS IS AN OLD REVIEW AND NO LONGER CURRENT:
I bought the first edition ever of this guide in 2005 and I was very disappointed with it. I only flicked through the pages of the 2006 edition in a bookstore to check quickly if anything had changed substantially with it... it didn't give me that impression, so I did not buy it,
So what is the problem with it... well... it doesn't quite exactly do what it says on the tin! It's not really a gay guide to London... unless gay means "shopping" to you. The paradox here is that actually the general non-specific annual guide Time Out London has a Gay & Lesbian section that is more relevant and more informative than anything found on this book supposedly specialized in Gay London.
The main problem is in the little importance given to the community in general, particularly it's non-commercial side. The guide had sooo many pages, yet it lacked so much! There could've been better article features at the beginning of the guide, of the great journalistic research standard you find in the "straight" guide, on a variety of aspects: London GLTB's at work, in history, at play, in politics, in love, at study, in friendship, in law, in [...], in family! in drugs, in old age, in your teens, in the arts and the media, in health, and yes... maybe a little about shopping, but not as the main topic please, which is almost all we got! Time Out Gay & Lesbian London should have been about what is like to live a "Gay & Lesbian" life in London, and what it could be like, The basic questions: "who are we", and "what opportunities and options does this city offer us as gay and lesbian individuals", where not answered very well. For instance, I wish I'd seen more reviews of the huge range of community organized groups and activities we can get involved in, of the support we can get, and, I confess, why not, about our [...] playgrounds. Of course trying to represent the huge immense variety of experiences and interests of gltb Londoners will be very difficult, but that very difficulty would've made the book so interesting, useful and unique in fact. Because that's precisely what it doesn't feel like:... unique and differentiated among other Time Out titles.
If you're a gay man or lesbian woman living or visiting this amazing city... buy the mainstream straight Time Out London guide. You'd be better off.
[...]
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