Scan barcode
Reviews
Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution: An Oral History by Walter Crasshole, Yony Leyser, Liam Warfield
ryannrripley's review
4.0
Got this book at SF Zine Fest 2023. Really exciting to read about queer punks, especially SF Bay Area queer punks. Favorite part was learning about the Toronto zine JDs, which invented the fictional homocore/queercore subculture in Toronto. Then the fiction became reality! That’s how bad queer punks wanted it to be real, they just made up the scene and then inhabited it! That’s the power of queer desire and what we do to create the community we need to survive. Also, awesome to read the words of Lynne Breedlove, whom I’ve seen perform live multiple times as frontman for the Homobiles, a local queercore band. I love his identity as both a trans man and a dyke. I think that is transgressive and cool. Labels are something that I think about a lot.
askoda's review
5.0
Queercore went above and beyond my expectations. I’ve always wanted to understand the LGBTQ+ movement more and quite frankly, the cover caught my eye.
Just going off of aesthetics I was leery. There’s so much garbage that goes around claiming to be true queer history. It had a cool name and a cool cover. It was almost TOO cool. But this book was more than just history- it was real life experiences from people who led the movement.
Instead of being told through the grapevine, I got to witness the identities of the movers, the shakers, the doers. Reading this book not only opened the doors to the interpersonal lives of the people who paved the way to acceptance, it opened my eyes to the connection between punk and the LGBTQ+ movement; two movements I have always felt pulled towards yet never fully felt part of.
I didn’t pick this book up to study it but as time went on, I realized I had to. The stories and experiences that lay within the binding deserved great attention. They also debunked many theories, curiosities, and rumors. The interviews also revealed the backlash of these movements which came as a surprise to me.
But most importantly, this book reminded me of all the voices that were silenced too soon or misconstrued. It reminded me that there are millions of stories that need to be told. There are many voices that are still shouting. That they too deserve to be heard.
Just going off of aesthetics I was leery. There’s so much garbage that goes around claiming to be true queer history. It had a cool name and a cool cover. It was almost TOO cool. But this book was more than just history- it was real life experiences from people who led the movement.
Instead of being told through the grapevine, I got to witness the identities of the movers, the shakers, the doers. Reading this book not only opened the doors to the interpersonal lives of the people who paved the way to acceptance, it opened my eyes to the connection between punk and the LGBTQ+ movement; two movements I have always felt pulled towards yet never fully felt part of.
I didn’t pick this book up to study it but as time went on, I realized I had to. The stories and experiences that lay within the binding deserved great attention. They also debunked many theories, curiosities, and rumors. The interviews also revealed the backlash of these movements which came as a surprise to me.
But most importantly, this book reminded me of all the voices that were silenced too soon or misconstrued. It reminded me that there are millions of stories that need to be told. There are many voices that are still shouting. That they too deserve to be heard.
authenticdmckee's review
5.0
I love a history with an oral option. Different voices and different perspectives jump off the page and open your eyes to this movement within a movement. I loved hearing how Queercore was self-actualised from fantasy to reality and seeing the different ways in which important space was claimed for LGBTQ+ people within a scene that, for all its radicalism, still carried so much heteronormative baggage in its DNA.
in_libris_speramus's review
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I will chase the high of reading "Please Kill Me" for the first time at 14 for the rest of my life. This ends in the top 5, for sure, even if it doesn't come close to Baby AN's first experience with written oral histories.
I got a lot of laughs and had a lot of deep thoughts moments while going through this. What floored me was realizing I was there for some of this. I'm getting long in the tooth, and the history I read is catching up to my existence. I was a kid for a lot of the stuff talked about, and some is still before my time. But I was alive and conscious for more than I realized. I was a riot grrrl, I was listening to Peaches and anything Kathleen Hanna touched, I was alive when these people were teenagers and young adults forming bands and creating zines. These connections back to my own life are stunning to make.
Overall, I think this is a great starting point for more recent punk history, as well as both punk non-punk queer history. There are several glossaries and "essentials of" lists to dive deeper into if you are inclined, which I love to see.
I got a lot of laughs and had a lot of deep thoughts moments while going through this. What floored me was realizing I was there for some of this. I'm getting long in the tooth, and the history I read is catching up to my existence. I was a kid for a lot of the stuff talked about, and some is still before my time. But I was alive and conscious for more than I realized. I was a riot grrrl, I was listening to Peaches and anything Kathleen Hanna touched, I was alive when these people were teenagers and young adults forming bands and creating zines. These connections back to my own life are stunning to make.
Overall, I think this is a great starting point for more recent punk history, as well as both punk non-punk queer history. There are several glossaries and "essentials of" lists to dive deeper into if you are inclined, which I love to see.
jackcoleman_thefirst's review
5.0
This was un-put-downable for me. Every story and every voice said something that hit me very deeply. I just loved it from start to finish.
crelyea12's review
4.0
This book was a quick yet satisfying read that gave not only an excellent exploration of the beginnings and impact of the queercore scene but also a strong exploration into queer identity. If you like gays, punks and artists, I couldn’t recommend this book enough.