cover image American Voyeur: Dispatches from the Far Reaches of Modern Life

American Voyeur: Dispatches from the Far Reaches of Modern Life

Benoit Denizet-Lewis. Simon & Schuster, $15 (295pp) ISBN 978-1-4165-3915-5

Denizet-Lewis (America Anonymous) offers these stirring and sensitive portraits of individuals-frequently adolescents-struggling to articulate desire and identity while bearing the weight of so-cietal taboo and marginalization. In the best sections-such as his groundbreaking investigation into a subculture of closeted gay African American men and his acutely observed piece on the os-tracized organization NAMBLA-he combines sharp-eyed reportage, sensitive depiction, and happily, considering the sober subject matter, a wry wit. The pieces were previously published in such magazines as the New York Times magazine, and they have the expected celerity and read-ability-only a few (including a piece on lipstick lesbians) succumb to a more shallow treatment. But for the breadth of his inquiries, the real shoe-leather journalism, and his ability to balance sympathy and skepticism (his study of transient gay youth is one such an example) he admirably succeeds. (Jan.)