'Odets's warm and lyrical voice, his inspiring picture of how imaginative gay life can be, has sent me queuing for the couch.' Evening Standard
'A gay man could read this book as if his life depended on it -  and perhaps it does' Andrew Holleran, author of Dancer from the Dance
Even in our modern progressive world, it's not easy to be a gay man.  While young men often come out more readily, even those from the most  liberal of backgrounds still struggle to accept themselves and  experience stigma, shame and difficulties with intimate relationships.  They also suffer from ongoing trauma wrought by the AIDS epidemic,  something that is all too often relegated to history.
Drawing on  a lifetime's work as a clinical psychologist, Walt Odets uses the  stories of his patients as well as those of his own deep relationships  with other gay men to illuminate how these difficulties may be overcome.  From a 74-year-old who only felt able to come out after his wife had  died, to the boy raised in a strict religious family who worked his way  to San Francisco, to the middle-aged defence lawyer who left everything  behind to embrace a new life, the experiences here explore everything  from grief to survival, childhood pain to the definition of gay itself.  Out of the Shadows shows us how a new way forward is possible through  learning to accept ourselves and others as they are, and independently  inventing our own lives.


