NYT magazine contributor Benoit Denizet-Lewis pursues interesting often lgbt-related subjects, nabs good details, and bundles them in quick, solid reads. Undoubtedly, Denizet-Lewis is delivering exactly what his editors ask.
Literary purists can argue that just because pieces more or less work as magazine
articles doesn't mean they will cohere as a book, but readers who missed these profiles the first time could find it helpful to have them gathered in one place.
Beyond the pandering title American Voyeur, openly gay Denizet-Lewis does cover with sensitivity many aspects of lgbt life: a 13 year-old girl living as a boy, lipstick lesbians, "regular guy" gays, black men on the DL, white men on the DL, Massachusetts gay couples who married relatively young, a group of homeless gay teens at odds with the residents where they hangout, and a look at whatever happened to NAMBLA (excerpt here). The random mix of non-queer stories include a summer camp for pro-life teens, high school hookups, a fraternity pledged to sobriety, tween xtreme sports stars, and an Ohio town that changed a street name from Gay Rd to Green Apple Rd.
A moving profile of two New Hampshire high school brothers (soccer captain, leading actor) who each committed suicide a year apart, using the same gun, shows town residents asking why the boys' father kept the weapon in the house after the first death ("it's not a memento"), and why the school thought it would be cathartic to have the second son, openly suicidal (telling friends he didn't want to live to be older than his brother), play Conrad, the suicidal younger son of an older brother who killed himself, on stage in Ordinary People. (The father basically replies, He was a bright kid determined to die; he would have found another way.)
A Salon interview with Mike Jeffries, the possibly closeted and certainly bizarre CEO of Hollister and Abercrombie (who withdrew his participation in the piece), captures choice details. Jeffries always goes through revolving doors twice and says he does not want fat or uncool kids wearing his clothes. ("Are we exclusionary? Absolutely!") Yet despite the rich opportunities here to explore the mystery of beauty and the industry of fashion, Denizet-Lewis chooses not to delve too deeply into larger questions.
Below, two crabby reviews make points worth noting. Beneath them, lots of praise (copied from the author's website), also noteworthy.
Kirkus: The book is similar in intent to Susan Orlean's The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup, but Denizet-Lewis lacks Orlean's provocative blend
of distance, commentary and wit. The writing style is adequate but does
not dazzle, and the author spends too much space on some topics -- such as
the recent crackdown on drinking in fraternities -- at the expense of
other subjects that could use more depth of analysis. Although
Denizet-Lewis doesn't fulfill his promise to throw wide the doors on
secret, largely sexual subjects, there is enough of the underground and
the subversive to pique the casual reader's interest... Light reading on
often heavy topics.
The AV Club: B- Denizet-Lewis is better at gaining his subjects’ trust and getting
colorful quotes than writing fully immersive profiles. Particularly
when restricted by word count, he flits over tiny fragments rather than
piecing together a larger picture. The teen-culture pieces are sketchy,
bringing together scattered anecdotes punctuated with conflicting
quotes from experts on opposing sides of whatever issue’s at hand... he’s on the outside, standing just inside enough to deliver quotes he
isn’t ready to place in any kind of framework. It isn’t the lack of
moral judgment that irks, just the lack of any kind of ballast. Half of
the collection is a real primer; the rest is just a glorified Dateline NBC report, only less hysterical.
Booklist: Denizet-Lewis deftly combines journalism and sociology in these 16
articles… Focusing on youth culture, sex, and sexual identity (often
gay and lesbian), the thirtysomething reporter demonstrates a flair for
what he calls “immersion journalism” or “wait(ing) around for people to
be themselves.” In practice, this means patiently establishing an
emotional rapport with people as disparate as homeless gay teens and
prepubescent extreme-sport athletes who are fielding more commercial
endorsements than they can count. The resulting reports are insightful,
entertaining, and often thought provoking… Denizet-Lewis is always an
engaging and well-informed guide to some of the farther reaches of
contemporary American culture.
Instinct: 4.5 stars. Denizet-Lewis has perfected the art of voyeur journalism, and this
collection of his best features gives beautiful glimpses into some very
compelling yet everyday lives... Denizet-Lewis takes on topics that make you feel a
little uncomfortable but nonetheless intrigued. The bonus to getting to
read these awesome works is the introduction—critical reading to better
understand the journalist’s mindset throughout the process of writing
each story.
Library Journal: Kicky, cutting-edge work to show younger readers who think journalism is dead.