Bad Gays: A Homosexual History
These “very funny-deep dives into the lives of the most dastardly queer people in history” offer a passionate argument for rethinking gay politics beyond identity (Vogue). What can we learn from the homosexual villains, failures, and baddies of our past?
Work Information
These “very funny-deep dives into the lives of the most dastardly queer people in history” offer a passionate argument for rethinking gay politics beyond identity (Vogue).
These “very funny-deep dives into the lives of the most dastardly queer people in history” offer a passionate argument for rethinking gay politics beyond identity (Vogue). What can we learn from the homosexual villains, failures, and baddies of our past? We all remember Oscar Wilde, but who speaks for Bosie? What about those ‘bad gays’ whose unexemplary lives reveal more than we might expect?...
Review Summaries
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Reception is generally positive, with praise for the premise and the emotional stakes. Some readers want a tighter pace or a little more depth in places.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Verso Books
- Published
- 2023-05-30
- Pages
- 357 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 12.9 x 2.26 x 19.74 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9781839763281
- ISBN-10
- 1839763280
- Price
- 3076 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Politics & Social Sciences/Social Sciences/Specific Demographics/Gay & Lesbian
These “very funny-deep dives into the lives of the most dastardly queer people in history” offer a passionate argument for rethinking gay politics beyond identity ( Vogue ). What can we learn from the homosexual villains, failures, and baddies of our past? We all remember Oscar Wilde, but who speaks for Bosie? What about those ‘bad gays’ whose unexemplary lives reveal more than we might expect? Many popular histories seek to establish homosexual heroes, pioneers, and martyrs but, as Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller argue, the past is filled with queer people whose sexualities and dastardly deeds have been overlooked despite their being informative and instructive. Based on the hugely popular podcast series of the same name, Bad Gays asks what we can learn about LGBTQ+ history, sexuality and identity through its villains, failures, and baddies. With characters such as the Emperor Hadrian, anthropologist Margaret Mead and notorious gangster Ronnie Kray, the authors tell the story of how the figure of the white gay man was born, and how he failed. They examine a cast of kings, fascist thugs, artists and debauched bon viveurs. Imperial-era figures Lawrence of Arabia and Roger Casement get a look-in, as do FBI boss J. Edgar Hoover, lawyer Roy Cohn, and architect Philip Johnson. Together these amazing life stories expand and challenge mainstream assumptions about sexual identity: showing that homosexuality itself was an idea that emerged in the 19th century, one central to major historical events. Bad Gays is a passionate argument for rethinking gay politics beyond questions of identity, compelling readers to search for solidarity across boundaries.
Huw Lemmey is a novelist, artist and critic living in Barcelona. He is the author of three novels: Unknown Language , Red Tory , and Chubz . He has written for the Guardian , Frieze , Tribune , the Architectural Review , New Humanist , the White Review , and L’Uomo Vogue , among others. Ben Miller is a writer and researcher living in Berlin, where he is currently a Doctoral Fellow at the Graduate School of Global Intellectual History at the Freie Universität. He has written for the New York Times , Literary Hub , Los Angeles Review of Books , Tin House , and Radical History Review , and is the author of The New Queer Photography . Since 2018 he has been a member of the board of directors of the Schwules Museum, one of the world’s largest independent queer museums and archives.
Reviews
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All a matter of thaste
All a matter of thaste
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A delightful’s devil advocate
If anything this book is a hymn and a Halleloo to our and out hypocrisy but also to challenge the notion that queer identity automatically conveys a sense of right, of good. In many cases in this book the very opposite is the case. Margaret Mead and Roger Casement are cases of trying to do the right thing but failing. And Casement’s case in particular is especially tragic. Other bad gays, such as those prominent in Fascism and the prosecution of the reds and lavenders are simply evil but Cohn particularly is unbelievable. Highly recommend a very interesting, wonderfully and frankly written book. A triumph.
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great idea
Some surprising facts in here… great to read.
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Well written
Great book. I learned a lot even about people I was already familiar with. Deeply researched and well written. A good social history
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Damaged Goods
The copy I received had a torn back cover and all sorts of damaged front cover. Takes away from the pleasure of reading.