Available from Lulu.com as a print on demand book and as a digital book.
Gay Games-VII: Where the World Meets is a pictorial showcase of Chicago’s successful effort to host the 2006 Gay Games. The opening section of the book provides the reader with an adequate historical overview of the Gay Games movement, which places the Chicago Gay Games in proper context. Additional text covers the struggles the Chicago committee had to overcome in order to land the games.
The main section of the book presents 1,000 high-quality photographs (selected from over 60,000)—taken by both professional and amateur photographers during the games—of participants, spectators, sponsors, and committee members. Photographs from the opening and closing ceremonies are included, and are arranged alphabetically by event.
There are a few flaws which weaken the book’s research functionality. The lack of a comprehensive alphabetical index makes it difficult to locate information efficiently. Photographs of committee members, celebrities, and sponsors are captioned, while photographs of participants and spectators in the main section do not carry captions.
This reviewer would have liked to have seen information on the location, duration, and event participants at the start of each event’s section. The absence of these items indicates this is a companion piece to the Federation of Gay Games website, the official website for the Chicago Gay Games. It should be noted that standard book trade sources, such as Books-in-Print, do not have a listing for this book.
Recommended for libraries with a GLBT athletic/sports collection.
Reviewed by TJ Lusher
Assistant Dean
Automated Library Systems
Northern Illinois University
