Same Sex in the City: So Your Prince Charming Is Really a Cinderella

Quick quiz: Do you call yourself a chick? Turned on by girl-on-girl action ? Know the difference between Absolut and Ketel One? If you answered yes to two out of three questions, you'll get a thrill from this book. Levin and Blitzer, two twenty-something lesbians, offer this as a guide for the newly out and the merely curious. The outline has pop, with topics like the problem of labels, the U-Haul syndrome, is-she-or-isn't-she experimentation (tricky territory that's handled well), and so on. Chapters start with tips and observations and end with a takeaway thought, framing stories from the authors and those they've interviewed. Most of the interviewees are much like the authors: young, well-heeled, hard-partying femmes, long on enthusiasm but short on experience, full of up-to-the minute slang but better at describing their drinks than their lovers. Lesbians with different lifestyles don't get much play, or even respect. Advice ranges from inarguable (""it is just as important to mesh well ... outside the sheets as it is between them"") to potentially dangerous (confiding in ""an anonymous online pal""). Though they've left a lot of queer territory unexplored, Levin and Blitzer's urban trailblazing is admirable, and their book deserves a large (if narrow) audience.