Routledge Narrating the Closet: An Autoethnography of Same-Sex Attraction (Writing Lives: Ethnographic Narratives)

Motivated by the death of his partner, Adams seeks to redefine the closet as a relational construct between all people and all sexualities. The closet is explored at each stage―entering it, inhabiting it, and coming out of it―and strategies are offered for reframing difficult closet experiences. Adams makes use of interviews, personal narratives, and autoethnography to analyze lived, relational experiences of sexuality. This is a must have for scholars and students of gender studies, qualitative research, and for any reader who has felt the closet’s reach. Review "Narrating the Closet: An Autoethnography of Same-Sex Attraction is an eloquent personal and scholarly journey into the challenges, anxieties, and joys of same-sex attraction. Professor Adams provides historical, cultural, and rhetorical implications of the proverbial closet in which so many members of the GLBT community have found themselves. The book thoughtfully weaves observations, reflections, analyses, and insights as it disentangles the coming out process of a co-culture that has been maligned, ridiculed, and hated by a large cross-section of American citizens. Narrating the Closet artfully situates sexual identity as an important personal and mediated life 'orientation' for millions of individuals. As the U.S. moves toward more measurable tolerance and acceptance of GLBT Americans, Adams' book will be of particular value. His work both depicts and honors the 'voices' of those whose life experiences have been misunderstood or ignored. As you read this extraordinary tome, your heart will break at times and be uplifted at other times. Throughout, however, you will find a candid, compassionate, and engaged author who embraces an other-centeredness rarely found in any published work." - Richard West, Professor, Emerson College, President, National Communication Association "Adams (communication, Northeastern Illinois Univ.)--a gay man who suffered the death of a former lover, possibly a suicide--combines personal memoir with a description of his research interviewing lesbian and gay people and doing content analysis of television shows and movies. After discussing the importance of the subject matter, the author writes about decisions to enter the closet (to oneself and to others), to stay in it, and possibly to leave it--including the paradoxes of these behaviors for the lesbian or gay individual and others with whom she or he interacts. Finally, he offers advice to people who have same-sex attractions--and those who interact with them--with an eye to making being in or leaving the closet more tenable. He concludes that tolerance between groups can result from mutual understanding of the various problems involved. In the appendix, he describes the methods of his research, giving both the positive and negative aspects of it. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers." --R. W. Smith, CHOICE Magazine "Grounded in storytelling, Narrating the Closet convincingly models personal vulnerability and academic integrity. Adam's narrative style has a poetic rhythm and cadence, inviting the reader to trust him as a narrator. While scholarly in nature, Narrating the Closet is accessible to a variety of academic and non-academic audiences. Scholars interested in gender and sexuality studies, queer studies, communication studies, and qualitative research will find Narrating the Closet a beneficial edition to their collection. Adam's book extends the boundaries of qualitative research and encourages scholars to utilize their lived experiences as a site for critical inquiry. Narrating the Closet also provides advocates with insightful stories and information that can be used to tackle bullying, harassment, and LGBQ suicides. Narrating the Closet is an affirmation of LGBQ identities that reminds young gay, lesbian, bisexual, and queer individuals that they are not alone." --Stephanie L. Young, Sexuality & Culture " Narrating the Closet is linked to a bo