Queer Religiosities

The entire book is conversational and almost interactive: Wilcox continuously engages the readers and asks us thought-provoking questions. Each chapter ends with study questions, questions for further thought, and recommendations for further readings. At the end of the book, an annotated filmography offers further material to study or teach queer and transgender studies. All of this shows that Wilcox's introduction clearly targets the classroom and undergraduate students. But the book is thought-provoking for advanced students and scholars as well. They certainly reach their goal "to leave readers not with all of their questions answered but with all of their answers questioned."

With a view to introducing non-specialists to the intersection of queer, transgender, and religious studies, Melissa M. Wilcox's latest work offers readers an accessible and comprehensive entry point to contemporary discussions of queer religiosities. Wilcox eschews the conceptual limitations of a world religions paradigm for parsing matters queer and religious and instead employs a thematic approach in this text, structuring her chapters around six distinct, albeit interrelated, themes: stories, conversations, practices, identities, communities, and politics and power. While some of these thematic discussions are more illuminating than others, each chapter teems with challenging ideas, fresh analyses, and subversive storytelling. Accompanying each chapter are fact-based study and discussion questions, as well as recommendations for further reading. Additional materials include an annotated filmography, a glossary, and a bibliography of queer studies in religion. While these aids contribute greatly to the teachability of this textbook, it is the author's inviting pedagogical approach and tone that help distinguish this introduction from others, rendering it indispensable as a textbook; readers will feel as though they are in the presence of a mentor truly passionate about the subject matter and keen to share this passion with others. This is an excellent introduction to queer, transgender, and religious studies, and one that will prove insightful and challenging to the unversed and the versed alike.