Lou
Each chapter is a biography of a historical queer person: long enough to be pretty detailed, but short enough not to be boring. I don't think the book always stuck to it's premise of "bad" gays, that is, figures who aren't usually remembered in terms of their gayness and aren't claimed by the queer community because they would make us look bad. Some, like Aretino, were by the authors' own admission not particularly "bad", and others, like Röhm, while definetly "bad", are very much talked about in terms of their gayness. I also think this book was pretty light on analysis and oftentimes the analysis that was there, while always true and good, didn't really contribute to a larger argument. Still, the conversational tone makes this a pretty easy read for a nonfiction book and it would probably have been far more impactful for someone who hasn't already done a lot of reading about queer history. I feel like most of my criticism comes from already having read about certain historical figures in more detail elsewhere, which I can't really fault the book for. If you're on the fence, I'd give it a go since it was certainly enjoyable.
Each chapter is a biography of a historical queer person: long enough to be pretty detailed, but short enough not to be boring. I don't think the book always stuck to it's premise of "bad" gays, that is, figures who aren't usually remembered in terms of their gayness and aren't claimed by the queer community because they would make us look bad. Some, like Aretino, were by the authors' own admission not particularly "bad", and others, like Röhm, while definetly "bad", are very much talked about in terms of their gayness. I also think this book was pretty light on analysis and oftentimes the analysis that was there, while always true and good, didn't really contribute to a larger argument. Still, the conversational tone makes this a pretty easy read for a nonfiction book and it would probably have been far more impactful for someone who hasn't already done a lot of reading about queer history. I feel like most of my criticism comes from already having read about certain historical figures in more detail elsewhere, which I can't really fault the book for. If you're on the fence, I'd give it a go since it was certainly enjoyable.