This is a collection of essays which compare [homosexuals] in the US with those in Latin America. It looks at male homosexuality from a historical, pre-colombian, and tribal perspective as well. Murray is an erudite anthropologist and therefore does not fall into the loopholes in scholarship that many white men who "study" homosexuality in Latin America have. The author is a bit of an essentialist and that may rub constructionists the wrong way. Of his books on international male homosexuality, this is the best one buy far. I think every [homosexual] Latino who wants to know their own [homosexual] Latino history should own a copy.

There are some excellent books on male homosexuality in particular sites (Hector Carrillo and Joseph Carrier on Guadalajara, Mexico; Richard Parker on (Rio) Brazil; Manuel Fernandez on (San Pedro, Honduras)) but this collection ranges much more widely, including material on indigenous cultures as well as the dominant machista one that varies only slightly from Texas to Tierra del Fuego, and incipient "modern gay" homosexuality.

About half the chapters are by Stephen Murray, who has considered reports from many societies and done fieldwork in Mexico, Guatemala, and Peru. He is very critical of the romantic view of "tolerance" ("anything goes"/ "there's no sin south of the border") but includes chapters by the two main purveyors of that view (Paul Kutsche and Richard Parker). The book contains a multiplicity of scholarly views and data ranging from the usual literary texts to ethnography and survey research on sexual behavior of males who have sex with males in Latin America.

This ethnography book does not read like a textbook, and it is not intended to be one. Instead, it is a project manual, briefly outlining five ethnographic assignments, and then including a number of papers from various students as examples.

The book is deliberately low on theory, and approaches ethnography from a more postmodern point of view, encouraging students to be reflexive and to write of their personal experiences and emotions. At the same time, the author states the importance of separating data from analysis, to help the ethnographer be more objective. The analysis of the data, where the ethnographer interprets the motives and emotions, is important but separate. He also gives further readings at the end of each assignment, knowing that this book does not go into much depth in either theory or practice.

The whole purpose of this book is teach ethnography by doing ethnography. The first three assignments are short and are designed to get the inexperienced student started in ethnography. The project descriptions are only about two pages long, and then each assignment has several example papers. The first is the map and description of a block, the second is a retrospective assignment on private language, and the third assignment is to study body language. All of these assignments help to sharpen the eye of the student in areas where they need to be observant.

The final two assignments are much bigger. One is a study on ritual, and the final assignment Kutsche calls "The Big Ethnography." This project is designed to last about a month. The final 100 pages of the book are devoted to eight exemplary student ethnographies.

Although the book was enjoyable to read, its strength really would come from actually doing the assignments, and if a class were not willing to do so, I think another book would be more appropriate. It is designed for an introductory class in ethnography, and is not written to be a reference for a field ethnographer, or for an advanced ethnography student.

In general I found the book somewhat refreshing in that it had short descriptions of the assignments, and then lots of case studies. For an introductory class in ethnography, it could be a good book if the professor was willing to have the students go through the assignments. But I would recommend the professor read the book through first before deciding to use it as a project manual.