adcamp04's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
notthatcosta's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
Even though I am what Jeremy Atherton Lin describes as a 'cozy queer', I deeply appreciate his careful and thoughtful archiving of queer history through nightlife, adding to the canon from the likes of Alim Kheraj and Dan Glass.
As someone with a lot of interest in London's history and very little interest in America, I naturally gravitated more towards the chapters that focused on London nightlife.
While some sections felt a bit 'okay boomer but make it queer', I enjoyed the overall POV of the book, especially the elements that pondered the purpose of queer nightlife spaces and the complex relationship between gentrification and queerness both in the UK and the US.
As someone with a lot of interest in London's history and very little interest in America, I naturally gravitated more towards the chapters that focused on London nightlife.
While some sections felt a bit 'okay boomer but make it queer', I enjoyed the overall POV of the book, especially the elements that pondered the purpose of queer nightlife spaces and the complex relationship between gentrification and queerness both in the UK and the US.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Drug use, and Sexual content
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Hate crime, Alcohol, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Racism
aloevera's review against another edition
I found it really hard to engage with this content as someone who does not have a lot of experience with gay bars or gay culture 20-30 years ago. I could imagine this being really evocative and powerful if you are familiar with that scene, but it’s really unfortunate that it is such a barrier from connecting with this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
thecolourblue's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
3.25
I think I expected something more from this book that what it is, and so it left me a little let down. I went in wanting this to be a book about the history of queer bars, but it isn't that - while there is some historical context written in, it's mostly the memoir of one gay man told through the bars he has been to.
The writing is nice, very atmospheric and really brings these spaces to life. There are some fantastic sentences - "I didn’t know how else to learn history but to try it on”, for example. But it's very much one man's story, and I wish it had been marketed more as than that as anything definitive about queerness or 'going out'.
Lin does have interesting things to say about the sanitisation of queer identity, the pressure to be a 'good' queer person - whatever different thing that means to different groups of people, and that sometimes there is value in messiness and perversion. I can relate to a lot of those feelings and some of the experiences of the book, but overall I think the text is limited by Lin's limited perspective as only one person in one part of a very large, diverse queer community. This style of book would have been something interesting to do as an anthology, with a range of different voices and experiences included.
The writing is nice, very atmospheric and really brings these spaces to life. There are some fantastic sentences - "I didn’t know how else to learn history but to try it on”, for example. But it's very much one man's story, and I wish it had been marketed more as than that as anything definitive about queerness or 'going out'.
Lin does have interesting things to say about the sanitisation of queer identity, the pressure to be a 'good' queer person - whatever different thing that means to different groups of people, and that sometimes there is value in messiness and perversion. I can relate to a lot of those feelings and some of the experiences of the book, but overall I think the text is limited by Lin's limited perspective as only one person in one part of a very large, diverse queer community. This style of book would have been something interesting to do as an anthology, with a range of different voices and experiences included.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
jazhandz's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I have an admittedly bad habit of reading reviews before I read a book. As such I was surprised by how many reviews for Gay Bar were unhappy with the mixture of memoir and broader history. I am not a gay man but I identify as queer, and this book captures the essential connectedness of gayness. The bars he describes are snapshots of gay culture, and his experience is at once individual and intensely relatable. You can’t talk about the history of gay bars without talking about the people who go to them. You can’t talk about gay bars without talking about gay history. Sure, I would have preferred a different balance of the three, but you need all three.
As a whole I thought this book was lovely and honest and thoughtful, and full of so much love for the subject. Some parts of it resonates, other parts didn’t, and the author’s penchant for dropping in six-syllable words was a little annoying. But as a whole I hugely enjoyed reading this.
As a whole I thought this book was lovely and honest and thoughtful, and full of so much love for the subject. Some parts of it resonates, other parts didn’t, and the author’s penchant for dropping in six-syllable words was a little annoying. But as a whole I hugely enjoyed reading this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Hate crime
Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Racism, and Homophobia
Minor: Islamophobia
aus10england's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.75
This is not quite what I thought it would be! Much more of a memoir than a history of queer spaces. I did, however, enjoy the stories told my the author. Raw, gritty, real, and super informative.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Homophobia
Moderate: Hate crime and Racism
lilworm's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Sexual content
hey_itsbee's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
I approached this book anticipating a history of gay bars across time and cultural spaces; however, this is not the case. Instead, this book is a deeply personal memoir of the author, a gay, Asian-American man's, experiences in gay bars in both San Francisco and London. The reflections are interwoven with historical narratives from the queer scene of the late 1900s, detailing the history of communities through bars as public spaces. Gay Bar: Why We Went Out left an impression on me in many ways, namely through the smooth narratives and explicit detail.
Atherton Lin's writing is natural for storytelling. He does a fantastic job bringing together the vivid scenes of night life with his own personal feelings and experiences, and eventually those of his partner's ('Famous Blue Raincoat') as well. There were parts of the story where I found the transitions between reflection and history unclear, but nonetheless, the balance of the historical narrative and life lessons learned with the explicit sexual descriptions of encounters inside and outside the gay bars kept me engaged. For those uncomfortable with graphic sexual scenes, this may not be the ideal read for you, but I found it powerful that Atherton Lin so directly put into words the experiences of men being with men that have long been censored throughout history.
Other topics touched on are the commodification of queer life and capitalism's role in the eradication of these spaces, increased queer visibility and the changing dynamic of gay bars, consent and inclusivity, and the intersections of white queer life and white supremacy. Atherton Lin's mixed feelings on the progression towards bars as safe spaces for communities to flourish were interesting to read in print. He touches on his own feelings, but ultimately declares that "the kids" have taught him better. While I found the remark a bit patronizing, I found it intriguing that he was able to lay out his thoughts in such a way that allows queer folks to more closely examine our community spaces and what values we promote within. Perhaps a more comprehensive history of gay bars could address this.
Gay Bar: Why We Went Out is challenging, informative, and above all else, a very engaging story. While I did not always agree with Atherton Lin regarding his preferences in bars and night clubs (I also am not a gay man), I found that his feelings and thought processes made me think deeply about issues facing the queer community's past, present, and future, and it is crucial that we make space in our community for challenging discussions as we move forward and create more spaces for ourselves.
Atherton Lin's writing is natural for storytelling. He does a fantastic job bringing together the vivid scenes of night life with his own personal feelings and experiences, and eventually those of his partner's ('Famous Blue Raincoat') as well. There were parts of the story where I found the transitions between reflection and history unclear, but nonetheless, the balance of the historical narrative and life lessons learned with the explicit sexual descriptions of encounters inside and outside the gay bars kept me engaged. For those uncomfortable with graphic sexual scenes, this may not be the ideal read for you, but I found it powerful that Atherton Lin so directly put into words the experiences of men being with men that have long been censored throughout history.
Other topics touched on are the commodification of queer life and capitalism's role in the eradication of these spaces, increased queer visibility and the changing dynamic of gay bars, consent and inclusivity, and the intersections of white queer life and white supremacy. Atherton Lin's mixed feelings on the progression towards bars as safe spaces for communities to flourish were interesting to read in print. He touches on his own feelings, but ultimately declares that "the kids" have taught him better. While I found the remark a bit patronizing, I found it intriguing that he was able to lay out his thoughts in such a way that allows queer folks to more closely examine our community spaces and what values we promote within. Perhaps a more comprehensive history of gay bars could address this.
Gay Bar: Why We Went Out is challenging, informative, and above all else, a very engaging story. While I did not always agree with Atherton Lin regarding his preferences in bars and night clubs (I also am not a gay man), I found that his feelings and thought processes made me think deeply about issues facing the queer community's past, present, and future, and it is crucial that we make space in our community for challenging discussions as we move forward and create more spaces for ourselves.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Homophobia
readingguy's review against another edition
informative
3.0
Gay bar is a strange amalgamation of the author's personal experiences in gay bars and spaces with very light history. Was wanting more about the history of the rise of gay bars and their closing due to gay hookup apps. Instead the book is heavily more of the author's personal experiences, which is fine, had he not painted with broad strokes and assumed that was others experiences or what others should have gotten out of those spaces. This book only really works for others with similar experiences as the author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
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