A review by anpu325
We Both Laughed in Pleasure: The Selected Diaries of Lou Sullivan by Lou Sullivan

5.0

I don't have the eloquence to put into words how much this book meant to me. It was like a heart-to-heart with someone whose thoughts at times mirrored my own. The absolute desperation with which I devoured this book is perhaps reflective of my craving for transmasculine experiences that I can relate to my own. Like Lou Sullivan describes his own writing of his autobiography of Jack Garland, reading Lou Sullivan's diary and discovering each new detail was much the same for me: "I gather each tidbit, each lead I pursue as tho I am finding someone with whom I am in love." I felt the same craving for transmasculine stories, for our history, as I tore through this selection of Lou Sullivan's diaries. Sometimes I read my own thoughts in his words. At other times, I felt so grateful to have things that Lou did not. The work that Lou devoted his life to set the foundation for the transmasculine community that I am a part of and the friends I had to support me during my transition. By the end, Lou felt like a friend even though I had never met him. I felt validated in my experiences and less alone as a transmasculine person. And in writing his diaries and arranging for them to be preserved, that is exactly what he wanted. The work that the editors of this volume did in going through the archives and making Lou's diaries more available, as he would have wanted, is invaluable. Thank you to you and thank you Lou.