Out of the Shadows, Walt Odets
Last updated 30 August 2026
Out of the Shadows Odets in short: a clinical psychologist's account of why so many gay men carry a quiet sense of not being quite right, and what it takes to put that down. Penguin, 2020, 368 pages, and the UK edition carries the subtitle The Psychology of Gay Men's Lives.
We link it because it sits behind the argument in our V&A LGBTQ tour review. Buy it from Bookshop.org UK, from Amazon UK, or from Gay's The Word, the UK's oldest LGBTQ+ bookshop, which is the one we would rather you used.
What Out of the Shadows Odets actually is
Walt Odets is a clinical psychologist who has spent a working life with gay men, much of it through the AIDS epidemic and its aftermath. Out of the Shadows draws on that practice. It is not a self-help book and it is not a history, though it contains a good deal of both. It is closer to a long argument about what growing up misdescribed does to a person, told through the people he has sat with.
The central target, in his own words, is "the nineteenth century idea of 'the homosexual'": a category invented from outside, handed to people as an identity, and then used to explain them to themselves. Odets argues instead for identities that are internally rooted and self-expressive, built from what a person actually wants rather than from what a label predicts.
What it covers
- The effect of early-life stigma and shame on adult lives, including on men who were never rejected outright and still absorbed the message.
- The psychological aftermath of the AIDS epidemic, in survivors and in the generation that followed them.
- Loneliness, and why intimacy between gay men is often harder than sex.
- The adverse effects of psychiatric diagnosis, social isolation and guilt.
- What Odets calls authentic living, and how it differs from simply being out.
Who it suits
Out of the Shadows Odets suits a reader who wants to understand something rather than be reassured. Odets is warm but he is not comforting, and he is willing to say that parts of gay life as it is currently organised do not serve the people living it. Equally, it works well for partners, friends and family who want a serious account rather than an introductory one.
It is not a light read. The chapters on the epidemic in particular are heavy going, and deliberately so. If you want something shorter and more celebratory, the LGBTQ+ gift guide has gentler options.
Out of the Shadows Odets: editions, price and where to buy
The UK paperback is Penguin, published 7 May 2020, 368 pages, ISBN 9780141990149. Note that the UK subtitle is The Psychology of Gay Men's Lives, while the US edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux reads Reimagining Gay Men's Lives. Same book, different jacket line.
Prices checked 30 August 2026: Bookshop.org UK £10.44 against a £10.99 cover price, and Gay's The Word £10.99, in stock. Amazon UK carries the same Penguin paperback, ISBN 9780141990149.
Frequently asked questions
What is Out of the Shadows Odets about?
It is a clinical psychologist's account of gay men's inner lives: how early stigma shapes adults, what the AIDS epidemic left behind, and why the inherited idea of "the homosexual" gets in the way of people knowing what they actually want.
Is the UK edition different from the US one?
Only in the subtitle. The Penguin UK paperback is The Psychology of Gay Men's Lives; the Farrar, Straus and Giroux edition is Reimagining Gay Men's Lives. The text is the same.
How long is it?
368 pages in the Penguin paperback. It reads slower than that suggests, because the case material rewards stopping.
Who is Walt Odets?
A clinical psychologist based in the United States, in practice for several decades, much of it with gay men during and after the AIDS epidemic. His earlier book, In the Shadow of the Epidemic, covered HIV-negative men's psychology.
Where should I buy it?
Gay's The Word in London is the UK's oldest LGBTQ+ bookshop and stocks it, and buying there does more good than buying it anywhere else. Bookshop.org UK is the next best option, because it pays independent shops a share. Amazon UK is the cheapest and fastest. Our Bookshop and Amazon links are affiliate links; the Gay's The Word link is not.
More from CoolCuration
- The V&A LGBTQ tour review — the free monthly queer museum tour this book sits behind.
- Beyond the Gender Binary — a short, sharp companion read.
- Pride at the National Theatre — our review of the musical, five out of five.
- The bookworms gift guide — what else to give a reader.
- Audible — if you would rather listen than read.
This page contains affiliate links. If you click through and buy I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It does not affect our editorial view.
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