One of the liveliest ongoing debates has revolved around the legal recognition of same-sex marriage, a debate that intensified with the possibility of legal recognition in Hawaii. That it is still ongoing—and that the furor has died down somewhat now that its political usefulness for Republicans has passed with the 1996 elections—makes the appearance of this lively and thorough reader all the more timely. Ranging from historical descriptions of past same-sex marriages (and near-marriages) to contemporary accounts of such relationships, Sullivan's book does more than just include the dry legal debates of the moment, though it does contain plenty of those. If the book seems somewhat slanted toward the pro side, this may be because of Sullivan's own position: As the former senior editor of The New Republic, he has been one of the most articulate conservative proponents of the cause for years. Or it may be that most of the arguments against really do seem like thinly veiled justifications of bigotry. Either way, Sullivan gives the floor to a wide range of views, and readers will emerge from the book much more informed about the issue than they were before.