PAUL's Reviews > Park Cruising: What Happens When We Wander Off the Path

This book is a surprisingly easy read, given how skillfully McCann moves from reportage to analysis to cultural theory and back. He offers a convincing case for the idea that gay men's cruising in parks (and other places) is actually a good thing. (Most frequently, in my experience, the phenomenon is considered to be at best, a necessary evil, or, worse, a social blight.) McCann manages to maintain the academic rigor of scholar but to also embed himself, when appropriate, in the text.

My only significant complaint about the book is that it is too often repetitive. I attribute this to the fact that Park Cruising is actually a collection of essays, rather than a single, multi-chapter argument. Obviously, the essays have been edited and updated to fit into this volume, but much redundancy remains.