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amcallan's review
informative
slow-paced
1.0
There were some good concepts, but explored feebly and without insight. The writing meandered in dull circles, with Zmith managing astoundingly to stop short of drawing a single interesting or meaningful conclusion.
lhgluke's review
3.0
It's an interesting topic to cover, and as a gay man who's never really gotten into Poppers, I was curious to find out more about them and their history.
The parts of the book which does this are interesting and informative, but the rest of the book is quite rambling and goes off in too many directions, from random stories from Zmith's life, to discussing Star Trek Deep Space Nine.
I can see why he brings these up, as they do have *some* connection to the points he's trying to make, but it just feels like it's going way beyond the original premise/scope of the book, and makes me think "I wish he'd get back to you know, poppers".
Overall a decent history of Poppers but with too much sidetracking and too many tangents.
The audiobook was narrated by Zmith and he done a great job there.
The parts of the book which does this are interesting and informative, but the rest of the book is quite rambling and goes off in too many directions, from random stories from Zmith's life, to discussing Star Trek Deep Space Nine.
I can see why he brings these up, as they do have *some* connection to the points he's trying to make, but it just feels like it's going way beyond the original premise/scope of the book, and makes me think "I wish he'd get back to you know, poppers".
Overall a decent history of Poppers but with too much sidetracking and too many tangents.
The audiobook was narrated by Zmith and he done a great job there.
jasjasjasjas's review
3.0
Well-researched with some interesting history and ideas. Often felt a bit directionless and far-fetched. Enjoyed the author's voice a lot though
johngrieve55's review
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
While I think poppers are maybe a bit mythologised and help up on a pedestal, it turns out they’re a pretty effective site upon which to project the ideas of queer futures and untangle queer history.
reubenlb's review
4.0
an intriguing read with some chapters stronger than others - this book has a definite perspective and a surprising amount of star trek discussion
connorgirvan's review
4.0
4 / 5 stars
Deep Sniff tells the story of how Poppers got their name from Amyl Nitrite which was sold in sealed glass ampules to be crushed by users. Upon being crushed to release the vapour, the action would result in a 'pop' hence the name. Amyl Nitrite was originally sold in ampules to prevent people from drinking the substance, but crushing glass wasn't the safest either. Therefore, Howard Breese Fonda invented an inhaler for sniffing Amyl Nitrite.
However, Thomas Lauder Brunton was the man who effectively popularised Poppers. He was born in Scotland and completed his medical training at Edinburgh Royal infirmary.
Companies began successfully marketing Poppers to the gay community after noticing their success rather than the original use which was for relief for patients suffering angina pectoris. Other uses suggested were to aid menstrual camps and heavy bleeding after birth, asthma, migraines and sea sickness. The marketing of poppers relied heavily on conventional ideas of masculinity to sell their product and often featured campaigns with muscled men.
In 2016, the Home Office drugs misuse report found that one in twelve people had used amyl nitrite or a substitute.
The book also touched on poppers relevance during the AIDs crisis. Poppers were believed to be a potential cause of HIV/AIDs and it was queried whether they were an immunosuppressor. This link came about as poppers were used during sex which was the cause of HIV transmission and most cases of the novel virus had previously partook in popper usage.
There were also several periods of poppers being banned. After realising that Amyl Nitrite was being sold without a prescription, pharmacies tightened their rules to prevent scrutiny. This meant that substitute substances became available as a way to get around the FDA decision to ban. Additionally, a judge called for poppers to be banned after a young man sniffed them and killed a fourteen year old; the newspaper headline read "sex potion turned a well behaved teenager into a crazed knife man".
The book largely speaks about pleasure and the denial of pleasure/how poppers are linked with pleasure. There is the discussion of popperbators (those who masturbate with poppers present often following videos others have created which instruct when to masturbate and when to sniff), disco clubs spraying the dance floor of poppers, and the use of poppers in popular culture (Sherlock Holmes, Pose etc).
Figures like Karl Heinrich Ulrichs and Frank Kameny are discussed with regards to their activism as gay individuals and the raid on the Royal Vauxhall Tavern receives a sizeable portion of the book.
All in all - a very good book and would recommend.
Deep Sniff tells the story of how Poppers got their name from Amyl Nitrite which was sold in sealed glass ampules to be crushed by users. Upon being crushed to release the vapour, the action would result in a 'pop' hence the name. Amyl Nitrite was originally sold in ampules to prevent people from drinking the substance, but crushing glass wasn't the safest either. Therefore, Howard Breese Fonda invented an inhaler for sniffing Amyl Nitrite.
However, Thomas Lauder Brunton was the man who effectively popularised Poppers. He was born in Scotland and completed his medical training at Edinburgh Royal infirmary.
Companies began successfully marketing Poppers to the gay community after noticing their success rather than the original use which was for relief for patients suffering angina pectoris. Other uses suggested were to aid menstrual camps and heavy bleeding after birth, asthma, migraines and sea sickness. The marketing of poppers relied heavily on conventional ideas of masculinity to sell their product and often featured campaigns with muscled men.
In 2016, the Home Office drugs misuse report found that one in twelve people had used amyl nitrite or a substitute.
The book also touched on poppers relevance during the AIDs crisis. Poppers were believed to be a potential cause of HIV/AIDs and it was queried whether they were an immunosuppressor. This link came about as poppers were used during sex which was the cause of HIV transmission and most cases of the novel virus had previously partook in popper usage.
There were also several periods of poppers being banned. After realising that Amyl Nitrite was being sold without a prescription, pharmacies tightened their rules to prevent scrutiny. This meant that substitute substances became available as a way to get around the FDA decision to ban. Additionally, a judge called for poppers to be banned after a young man sniffed them and killed a fourteen year old; the newspaper headline read "sex potion turned a well behaved teenager into a crazed knife man".
The book largely speaks about pleasure and the denial of pleasure/how poppers are linked with pleasure. There is the discussion of popperbators (those who masturbate with poppers present often following videos others have created which instruct when to masturbate and when to sniff), disco clubs spraying the dance floor of poppers, and the use of poppers in popular culture (Sherlock Holmes, Pose etc).
Figures like Karl Heinrich Ulrichs and Frank Kameny are discussed with regards to their activism as gay individuals and the raid on the Royal Vauxhall Tavern receives a sizeable portion of the book.
All in all - a very good book and would recommend.
captainwinter's review
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.0
Informative, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it ‘a history of poppers’ since after the first couple of chapters the poppers kind of get lost in a more anecdotal analysis of queer culture? I often times found myself wondering why certain things were included. Still, I learned some new things!