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A review by ari__s
Am I Blue?: Coming Out from the Silence by Marion Dane Bauer
3.0
Thoughts:
It is hard to read a queer lit book that was written in the early 90s. Put differently: I was born in '92 and my views/opinions/understandings of what it is to be queer have changed dramatically in the course of 20 years. So a book that is as old as I am will, naturally, feel a little dated. It was hard to read in that respect, but the existence of such a book in the 90s makes up for it. It takes astounding courage - just as much courage as Ellen coming out on her show. Even if the authors themselves did not identify with the community, the 'guilt by association' argument (even today) still very much holds. So, as a queer kid who was unfortunate enough to not find this book until the closet had been blown open, I am glad that the community was fortunate enough in the early 90s (and all the years that followed) to have this resource available to them.
It was interesting to see all the different approaches that were taken in telling these stories. There was one that had some mythical/spiritual approach, there was a Vietnam war one - there were so many different angles that it kept the pages turning fairly quickly (seriously, though, it was an insanely fast read). It was also good to see the diversity - yes, there were only lesbian and gay couples and we know there are so many more identities once we step outside the binary - but the diversity in race/ethnicity was fairly prevalent and I enjoyed that particularly. (#weneeddiversebooks - can I get a hell yeah?)
Yes, this is a dated book. But the intent and impact is there. The writers of today should band together in a similarly massive force and put forth another book like this. We need it.
It is hard to read a queer lit book that was written in the early 90s. Put differently: I was born in '92 and my views/opinions/understandings of what it is to be queer have changed dramatically in the course of 20 years. So a book that is as old as I am will, naturally, feel a little dated. It was hard to read in that respect, but the existence of such a book in the 90s makes up for it. It takes astounding courage - just as much courage as Ellen coming out on her show. Even if the authors themselves did not identify with the community, the 'guilt by association' argument (even today) still very much holds. So, as a queer kid who was unfortunate enough to not find this book until the closet had been blown open, I am glad that the community was fortunate enough in the early 90s (and all the years that followed) to have this resource available to them.
It was interesting to see all the different approaches that were taken in telling these stories. There was one that had some mythical/spiritual approach, there was a Vietnam war one - there were so many different angles that it kept the pages turning fairly quickly (seriously, though, it was an insanely fast read). It was also good to see the diversity - yes, there were only lesbian and gay couples and we know there are so many more identities once we step outside the binary - but the diversity in race/ethnicity was fairly prevalent and I enjoyed that particularly. (#weneeddiversebooks - can I get a hell yeah?)
Yes, this is a dated book. But the intent and impact is there. The writers of today should band together in a similarly massive force and put forth another book like this. We need it.