
Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places (Observations)
★★★★★Read Jan 1, 1993
Now a classic of sociological research and an important document from its time. I read it back in the 90s as a work of gay studies, someone documenting honestly and sympathetically a form of homosexual life that was otherwise clandestine. And I think it served that purpose very well, with insights that would surprise people even now. The book is mostly used now as a prop to talk about sociology research ethics and while there are certainly significant ethical questions in this kind of research, it's a mistake to overlook the primary contribution Humphreys made to understanding one form of homosexual behavior.
Goodreads readers give it 3.76★, from 237 ratings. I gave it 4★, +0.2, where I'm usually −0.9: I liked it more than most.
Readers call it Sociology, Queer, Sexuality, LGBT, Psychology, Ethnography, Anthropology, Theory.