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A review by carolynf
Eminent Outlaws: The Gay Writers Who Changed America by Christopher Bram
4.0
I thought this would be a series of biographies on gay literary figures, but instead it a history of the gay literary experience. It is divided neatly into decades, beginning in the 1950s and ending in the 1990s, and each section discusses not only the important gay writers of the time but also describes the content of the work and explains how society at large regraded homosexuality and writers who were suspected of being gay. The author does an excellent job of bringing the relationships between various writers to life - with examples of both support and criticism. The book does focus exclusively on writers, so you won't find any mention of Freddy Mercury or Birdcage or Rent.
Lesbian writers are not included in this book, which the author explains at the beginning by says essentially that they deserve their own book. A book about lesbians would have to deal with society's expectations of women as well as its attitudes toward homosexuality, so it probably was the right decision to not try to cover everything here. I was more disappointed that the 1990s section was so sparse (basically just "Angels in America" and a few brief mentions of other works) and that there was no coverage of the 2000s at all. This book was written in 2012, so the meat of the book ending with the AIDS crisis is a little annoying.
Lesbian writers are not included in this book, which the author explains at the beginning by says essentially that they deserve their own book. A book about lesbians would have to deal with society's expectations of women as well as its attitudes toward homosexuality, so it probably was the right decision to not try to cover everything here. I was more disappointed that the 1990s section was so sparse (basically just "Angels in America" and a few brief mentions of other works) and that there was no coverage of the 2000s at all. This book was written in 2012, so the meat of the book ending with the AIDS crisis is a little annoying.