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moh's review against another edition
3.0
There is a lot of fascinating information here, and for the most part I loved the ways Hugh Ryan contextualized Brooklyn's queer history in the larger history of the U.S. and created a beautiful, if somewhat conflicted, love letter to my favorite borough. Still, there's one star less as a trade-off for all the energy I wasted stewing about why the holy fuck there's more here about eugenicists' treatment of cis, straight Irish Americans than disabled folks (Not everything has to include disabled people for me to like it, but if you're talking extensively about who has been harmed by eugenics, give us a freaking wave, would ya?) I also felt the writing may have been a little uneven, though that may say more about my lack of intellectual rigor than anything else. For example, I gave up on doing more than skimming the section listing the outlines of exactly which neighborhoods were razed in the unnecessary overdevelopment of highways and tunnels. I wish some of that had been written a little more concisely and supplemented in an appendix.
That said, the recounting of events was pure gold. I loved learning about the romantic friendship between Carson McCullers and G*psy Rose Lee, and I don't think the image of the pair walking down a Brooklyn street late at night as they followed a firetruck is going to leave my mind any time soon. There's also a delightful story about an upscale Coney Island bathhouse that had both a queer and straight clientele in 1929. The management, who may have been a little out of touch, decided to hold a heavily promoted male beauty pageant, judged by a panel of moneyed Coney Island dowagers, to publicize the bathhouse. To the organizers' surprise, the contestants were overwhelmingly pretty, gay men who camped it up, many wearing make-up and some degree of drag. Cue management and emcee dismay. The dowagers, however, loved it. The emcee (Rudy Vallée's sister) became increasingly upset as she urged the dowagers not to vote for these “floozies” (her word). The dowagers were having no part of it. Eventually, the sole contestant who was married was pushed to the front and declared the winner. (I'm with the dowagers: Always vote for the floozies.)
My absolute favorite bit was this quote from Autobiography of an Androgyne, which was completed around 1899, on the first use of “fairy” to mean queer:
True or not, this is pretty great.
That said, the recounting of events was pure gold. I loved learning about the romantic friendship between Carson McCullers and G*psy Rose Lee, and I don't think the image of the pair walking down a Brooklyn street late at night as they followed a firetruck is going to leave my mind any time soon. There's also a delightful story about an upscale Coney Island bathhouse that had both a queer and straight clientele in 1929. The management, who may have been a little out of touch, decided to hold a heavily promoted male beauty pageant, judged by a panel of moneyed Coney Island dowagers, to publicize the bathhouse. To the organizers' surprise, the contestants were overwhelmingly pretty, gay men who camped it up, many wearing make-up and some degree of drag. Cue management and emcee dismay. The dowagers, however, loved it. The emcee (Rudy Vallée's sister) became increasingly upset as she urged the dowagers not to vote for these “floozies” (her word). The dowagers were having no part of it. Eventually, the sole contestant who was married was pushed to the front and declared the winner. (I'm with the dowagers: Always vote for the floozies.)
My absolute favorite bit was this quote from Autobiography of an Androgyne, which was completed around 1899, on the first use of “fairy” to mean queer:
'It probably originated on sailing vessels of olden times when voyages often lasted for months. While the crew was either actually or prospectively suffering acutely from the absence of the female of the species, one of their number would unexpectedly betray an inclination to supply her place. Looked upon as a fairy gift or godsend, such individual would be referred to as 'the fairy.''
True or not, this is pretty great.
meganperfect's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
siriface's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Suicide, Transphobia, and Classism
rosereads_books's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
tessisreading2's review against another edition
I enjoyed reading this but it's arranged chronologically and I discovered I wasn't really that interested in proceeding into the 1920s. If I were more into Brooklyn maybe it would be a thing.
sarahamymcneil's review against another edition
5.0
A gorgeous and fascinating historical map that makes people who lived almost 200 years ago feel like people you've met. I adored reading this and can't wait to lend it out.