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pbraue13's review against another edition
5.0
A cornerstone of gay history! I wish I had read this sooner! While its only flaw is that it focuses on gay male identifying culture, the author acknowledges that, it is still a wonderful break through in the perception that queer people hid in self-hating isolation until 1969, in the wake of the Stonewall Riots. The reason we don't hear about this time that gay people flourished is because it largely took place in the lower classes and with immigrants/people of color, so it was often overlooked or ignored. So so good! So informative! Perfect as we approach Pride month!
smuds2's review against another edition
3.0
A fascinating book that details the characteristics of the different identities associated with both homosexual and gay people in New York in the 1920's, their social structures, how the built environment harmed and helped them exist, how social structures promoted or suppressed them, and how their influence spread and was ultimately cracked down on in the 1930's + 40's.
From a not-well-versed-in-Gay-History reader, I felt like the book brought me initially to an incredibly different world (early 1900's NY gay culture) and then charted it's way over the next 50 years to a much more "comfortable" place that looked more like the Gay culture I imagine - meaning something that feels more akin to what I imagine I know. I felt like by the end of the book I was able to see how future developments in Gay culture (and the dominant cultures reaction to that culture) would lead to what is ultimately recognizable as Gay culture.
It is a fascinating dive into a nuanced world that feels completely foreign to me - and is a great book to demonstrate that history is always more interesting than it's made out to be and that there is really no such thing as an encapsulated "past" -- everything depends on POV, etc.
From a not-well-versed-in-Gay-History reader, I felt like the book brought me initially to an incredibly different world (early 1900's NY gay culture) and then charted it's way over the next 50 years to a much more "comfortable" place that looked more like the Gay culture I imagine - meaning something that feels more akin to what I imagine I know. I felt like by the end of the book I was able to see how future developments in Gay culture (and the dominant cultures reaction to that culture) would lead to what is ultimately recognizable as Gay culture.
It is a fascinating dive into a nuanced world that feels completely foreign to me - and is a great book to demonstrate that history is always more interesting than it's made out to be and that there is really no such thing as an encapsulated "past" -- everything depends on POV, etc.
juburstein's review against another edition
5.0
Best nonfiction book I have ever read! I learned so much and it was really interesting to read about how differently queerness was treated before WWI
josh_paul's review against another edition
4.0
Would have been significantly better with more historical research and less theory and jargon.
banrions's review against another edition
5.0
Really informative and a huge chuck of history that I honestly knew only a tiny bit about before. I listened to a library hold, but I think this is going on my wish list of queer history things I want to own one day, bc there is so much I would go back and double check, want to remember. The narrator did a fantastic job. I sometimes struggle with non fiction audiobooks, esp long and more historical, researched based, basically thesis paper style ones, but the narrator did a fantastic job keeping me engaged. Def rec if you want more abt queer history. ESPECIALLY pre-stonewall. We were very queer and apparently obviously so in many places here.
Great listen.
Great listen.
adambwriter's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent historiography of gay male life in New York at this time.
mandapandagrace's review against another edition
4.0
Hands down, my favorite book of the semester. It's a hefty 380 pages long but so well written and interesting that it reads like a much shorter book. The author handles his research masterfully and creates a whole new world for you to see in the pre-World War II era of New York's culture. Once school is finished, I will certainly be revisiting this one for a leisurely stroll through the information rather than a speed read for class. :)