Non-Fiction, Reference, Education, North American 

Who was Sappho? How did San Francisco get so gay? Was Eleanor Roosevelt really a lesbian? In this lively volume, Bianco (History for Everyone) answers these and 98 other questions about gay history. Largely culled from Bianco's newspaper column "Past Out," the entries in Gay Essentials are succinct, witty, and anecdotal. Bianco does a sensible, entertaining job of covering the kind of history that isn't taught in most schools, but his work leaves one with the feeling that it could have been much more. Bianco reveals a strong, unnoted bias toward people and events in the United States, and some of the biographical details should probably be taken with a grain of salt. In the end, this book is more like the People's Almanac than a true reference work. It does, however, contain an excellent bibliography for those who seek more depth. Recommended for gay studies collections as well as large public libraries.