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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
this book sadly just didn’t do it for me :(
i’m not sure if it was because of the jumping around california, to the random places in england, to the mixed in history lessons, i found it difficult to give each chapter its moment - i guess there was just a lot going on
i think the premise of the book is really beautiful and details the life of the author predominantly through the gay bar scene in various locations
🎧
i’m not sure if it was because of the jumping around california, to the random places in england, to the mixed in history lessons, i found it difficult to give each chapter its moment - i guess there was just a lot going on
i think the premise of the book is really beautiful and details the life of the author predominantly through the gay bar scene in various locations
🎧
I struggle sometimes, to describe to someone why queer memoirs and biographies are so important and different than the typical. A queer person is, in their own way, their own monument of history. Gay Bars are generally transitory and not immutable pieces of historical context. All of that memory is in the gray matter and bones of the people whose queer journey and trajectory were there. There very presence in a space is, in a way, pioneering. The shape of gay and queer history is always the shape of the person who chooses to go to a space that is other.
In contrast, I think cis straight white culture, the mono culture can only co-opt and integrate in its effort to puncture and deflate anything different. The quintessential monument there must be the somewhat interchangeable brothers-in-arms raising of a flag. The culture can only raise a symbol of the country; of nationalism or the penetration and impingement of the norm into every space on the horizon. It is a mass indistinct. Unknowingly or knowingly in service to the status quo.
How different and important it is to have queer history in print versus those monuments history loves so much. Tying a memoir of Lin’s personal history—constructing history itself with his participation and presence—to the spaces that are often subsumed and forgotten, for many never experienced, is both apt and genius. Lin himself remarks on how important it is to have other queer people in life to pass down this kind of memory. Codifying it in this way, for some many more people, must be important, then. Vital, really.
On top of this, Lin has a knack for switching between the voice of his historical context and his personal experience. Combined with the predilection to discuss only those things I found to be interesting, there is really nothing I have to complain about. Some people, no doubt, will find the explicit sections sometimes Too Much. Even voiced by Lin, these meeting of bodies felt as important as the space they went to in order to enable the various acts. It’s sharp, matter-of-fact, and what happened. Sometimes it’s what Lin describes as a desirable reason for going there: Risky.
In contrast, I think cis straight white culture, the mono culture can only co-opt and integrate in its effort to puncture and deflate anything different. The quintessential monument there must be the somewhat interchangeable brothers-in-arms raising of a flag. The culture can only raise a symbol of the country; of nationalism or the penetration and impingement of the norm into every space on the horizon. It is a mass indistinct. Unknowingly or knowingly in service to the status quo.
How different and important it is to have queer history in print versus those monuments history loves so much. Tying a memoir of Lin’s personal history—constructing history itself with his participation and presence—to the spaces that are often subsumed and forgotten, for many never experienced, is both apt and genius. Lin himself remarks on how important it is to have other queer people in life to pass down this kind of memory. Codifying it in this way, for some many more people, must be important, then. Vital, really.
On top of this, Lin has a knack for switching between the voice of his historical context and his personal experience. Combined with the predilection to discuss only those things I found to be interesting, there is really nothing I have to complain about. Some people, no doubt, will find the explicit sections sometimes Too Much. Even voiced by Lin, these meeting of bodies felt as important as the space they went to in order to enable the various acts. It’s sharp, matter-of-fact, and what happened. Sometimes it’s what Lin describes as a desirable reason for going there: Risky.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
The notion of community looms large in the mind of a queer person. Often romanticized, we envision a place where everyone knows your name and welcomes you with a smile. But did it ever exist, for anyone? Really?
Lin puts forth that by the time any vague community may have formed, HIV ran rampant through the globe, thus fragmenting and diluting this experience for the subsequent generations. Is this remedied by the presence of apps and “safe spaces”?
Lin tells the story of several queer spaces through his own experiences there, but never really answers his own questions, a true analogy for the obscure identity that is queer.
I read this book in pieces, yet kept coming back. It felt like a glorified journal entry at times with poppers and alcohol sprinkled in. Gays love having sex in clubs. Groundbreaking.
Is it community or sex addiction?
Lin puts forth that by the time any vague community may have formed, HIV ran rampant through the globe, thus fragmenting and diluting this experience for the subsequent generations. Is this remedied by the presence of apps and “safe spaces”?
Lin tells the story of several queer spaces through his own experiences there, but never really answers his own questions, a true analogy for the obscure identity that is queer.
I read this book in pieces, yet kept coming back. It felt like a glorified journal entry at times with poppers and alcohol sprinkled in. Gays love having sex in clubs. Groundbreaking.
Is it community or sex addiction?
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
slow-paced
It was a lot more memoir-like than I anticipated. And I don’t think the author has all that unique or captivating of a perspective. The gay-bar history, when it appears, rarely goes as deep as I would like it to. But still, there were some nice bits, and just enough to get me to finish and think fondly of my own gay bar memories.
Just got bored with the audiobook
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
An enlightening, erotic book about queer history intertwined with the role gay bars played in the author’s personal sexual journey. I picked this one up because I needed something to listen to on a road trip and had to turn it down every time I stopped for gas so none of my fellow patrons could overhear the graphic details of the author getting his schlong shlucked
A stunning must-read. Both singular and global in its expanse, Jeremy Atherton Lin combines personal experience with a spectrum of established queer theory, while still managing to offer delightfully new and refreshing takes on what it means to be gay—alone and in community. At once academic and primal, Atherton Lin tells a striking and untold story of our culture, how it has evolved, and how it has remained the same.
Lin is a really great writer, and I am honestly kind of conflicted about this book. I think he tells a story compellingly and his narrative is interesting, but I am not sure I understand what my takeaway should be. The story seems to be a mix of history and personal memoir, but I am not sure commits to either fully.
I think Lin has an interesting story to tell and a personal narrative of his relationship to gay bars is very interesting, but I feel the book just tries at times to be sometimes it’s not. I found myself wanting him to discuss issues like race more in these queer spaces if it is a history, but since it’s personal memoir he just does not.
The book is quite good though, and worth a read for people to develop a deeper bond with the gay bar.
I think Lin has an interesting story to tell and a personal narrative of his relationship to gay bars is very interesting, but I feel the book just tries at times to be sometimes it’s not. I found myself wanting him to discuss issues like race more in these queer spaces if it is a history, but since it’s personal memoir he just does not.
The book is quite good though, and worth a read for people to develop a deeper bond with the gay bar.