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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
Bad Gays by Huw Lenny and Ben Miller. The premise is Simple. Take a bunch of historical figures, who may or may not be gay, and tell the reader about the shady dealings they did throughout their life.
Sounds exciting right? Unfortunately it fell a bit flat for me. Don’t get me wrong, it was an interesting read. But man was it a struggle! The writing was dry, even for a non-fiction read.
I’m also in two minds about the legitimacy of the figures in this book in relation to their gayness. We’re they gay? Or were they “roommates”? How much of it can we say for certain really happened, and how many of them actually had same sex attractions? I’d take it with a grain of salt because in most cases we just don’t know.
The book focused more on providing a brief history of each man’s (and one woman’s) life, which in some cases felt like they were trying to fit something too big into a hole that was just a little too dry (yes, I went there).
Am I glad I picked up this book? Hard to tell. Some parts were enjoyable to read, I learned about some historical figures I probably wouldn’t have thought to read about. But overall this isn’t something I’d read again.
Sounds exciting right? Unfortunately it fell a bit flat for me. Don’t get me wrong, it was an interesting read. But man was it a struggle! The writing was dry, even for a non-fiction read.
I’m also in two minds about the legitimacy of the figures in this book in relation to their gayness. We’re they gay? Or were they “roommates”? How much of it can we say for certain really happened, and how many of them actually had same sex attractions? I’d take it with a grain of salt because in most cases we just don’t know.
The book focused more on providing a brief history of each man’s (and one woman’s) life, which in some cases felt like they were trying to fit something too big into a hole that was just a little too dry (yes, I went there).
Am I glad I picked up this book? Hard to tell. Some parts were enjoyable to read, I learned about some historical figures I probably wouldn’t have thought to read about. But overall this isn’t something I’d read again.
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
A lot of reviews have commented that this book would be better as a podcast. I don't know why they said it but I know why I agree. This book is a collection of short biographies of mostly men that are "bad". Unfortunately, the separate chapters vary in tone or even in a definition of what is considered bad. There is a lot of nazis. There is also a blackmailer, or a racist anthropology writer. If those essays were separate maybe I would have liked them more, but because it is one book if you write about a nazis that were killing people in a somewhat neutral tone and then use a lot of criticism about someone that wrote an untrue book about POC it feels kind of wierd.
Almost all people mentioned here are men. There is one bisexual woman here.
There were people the author called "not homosexual in the context as we understand it today" but he did not bother to represent one homosexual woman.
To be honest the whole expirience feels pointless as a non-fiction book to read. In one essay the author will show how homosexuals used their oppression as weapon against POC. In other he will write how a British guy fell in love with a Muslim. Then he will proceed to describe that partner as just "the young men the main character fell in love with". He will critique the racism then proceeds to exclude POC from this book. He will critique imperialism and capitalism but does not discuss patriarchy that is harming the lgbtq community.
There are multiple sentences that shocked me of how misogynistic they were. This book is just another non fiction written by a man that has read about intersectionality but as a white able-bodied man cannot really write a compelling piece about it.
Almost all people mentioned here are men. There is one bisexual woman here.
There were people the author called "not homosexual in the context as we understand it today" but he did not bother to represent one homosexual woman.
To be honest the whole expirience feels pointless as a non-fiction book to read. In one essay the author will show how homosexuals used their oppression as weapon against POC. In other he will write how a British guy fell in love with a Muslim. Then he will proceed to describe that partner as just "the young men the main character fell in love with". He will critique the racism then proceeds to exclude POC from this book. He will critique imperialism and capitalism but does not discuss patriarchy that is harming the lgbtq community.
There are multiple sentences that shocked me of how misogynistic they were. This book is just another non fiction written by a man that has read about intersectionality but as a white able-bodied man cannot really write a compelling piece about it.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
***3.5/5
Thoroughly researched study of queer people who were, on all accounts except their queerness, bad people that sought to prove we are a better community when understanding the importance of unity and intersectionality. Enjoyed the read, although the prose is very dense and academic. Not a bad thing, but did make it slow - and sometimes boring.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
should've listened to the podcast lowkey. still a good book tho
informative
slow-paced
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced