Boys' Love Manga: Essays on the Sexual Ambiguity and Cross-Cultural Fandom of the Genre
Antonia Levi (Editor), Mark McHarry (Editor), Dru Pagliassotti (Editor)

Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: McFarland (April 30, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 078644195X
ISBN-13: 978-0786441952

From School Library Journal:

Manga has become a phenomenon, available in schools, public libraries, and bookstores. One of the genres that is becoming more popular is “boys' love” manga, also known as yaoi or shonen-ai. This collection of essays covers various aspects of these books. The quality of the selections varies; some are clear and lively; others are bogged down by the authors' apparent wish to appear erudite. Interestingly, the most accessible articles are those written by women. Boys' Love Manga is not a readers' advisory or a primer on the best examples of the genre. Its function is as a discussion of various aspects of it and would fit in public libraries with avid readers of BL, librarians with an interest in the subject, or as a resource for university-level course work. Unless a high school is very progressive and has a course in the sociological aspects of all forms of manga, its usefulness in a school library is limited.Suanne Roush, Osceola High School, Seminole, FL

Review:

"At last, this collection pries open the last of the closet doors and allows for the analysis of the narratives of gay, transgendered, and intersexual subjects to emerge. Manga have been a unique source and archive of such work, slowly developing what has become a massive, global fan base. Each of the narratives in this anthology takes on a particular facet of the complicated and complex area of culture that surrounds the boys' love genre, moving the discussion--finally--out into the light of day." --Frenchy Lunning, editor-in-chief of Mechademia and professor, Minneapolis College of Art and Design.