Reviews with content warning for Outing - Yakut Orman

I think I enjoyed this book overall but it is quite dated. I liked Molly, the pacing, and overall story. I did not like the attitude about race, gender, and the very weird take on butches. It is an easy to read classic and I can see how it got there, but mostly I just wanted read it so next time I am in the bar named after it, I can say I did ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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oddreads_nicolestins's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would!

No spoilers here, but it's more than just a coming-of-age story. I loved so many of the characters, but I hurt with them too. I laughed with them and I almost cried.

Highly recommend for all those who are curious and for all my southern allies/country-folk allies, LGBTQIA+, or otherwise.

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citrine's review against another edition

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This book is...fine. I guess. I read it and discussed it for class, and there were some parts that I felt were funny and compelling, but I found it overall just droll and off-kilter. Style is always a matter of taste, bur I really didnt mesh with the narrative style of the book as a whole. My professor (Lesbian Literatures at W&M) said something along the lines of this book being "confused" and I think that hits on it well. RMB is frustratingly inconsistent - decrying societal norms in one breath ( there is are constant references to a "do what you want" kind of attitude), and undermining that ethos in the next. I think there is a decent honesty in the book, and a narrator to whose emotions we have less access than common. Im not an expert in the demographics of NYC queer street life in the period, but the absence of even a passing mention of trans people felt odd to me - the protagonist of the story lives on the streets of the city at one point (an experience RMB had herself) and it strikes me as odd that she wouldnt have encountered any trans swers or anything strikes me as odd. Almost an erasure - but I will need to do more research to say for sure. Lastly, the main character commits what can only be described as sexual assault twice in this book. While the sexual politics and dynamics of conset (especially queer consent, with the often repressed desires of individuals intermingling with contradictory ways of showing interes) have changed a lot, it just feels weird!

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mollyv's review against another edition

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hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

It is hard to rate a book that has such historical significance for queer women - so a neutral rating seems fair.

I can see why it has the praise it does, to read about such a confidently queer female character in a book written in 1973 and set even earlier was really interesting. To see the struggles that came with being queer and working class in the USA at the time was also very illuminating.

However, the stance the book takes on some issues disturbed me. The acceptance of incest was particularly jarring and made me extremely uncomfortable. The several dub-con moments between the main character and others was also difficult to read and never critically discussed. The bandying about of slurs and racist opinions was also something that was not handled as well as I would have liked. There was also very weird adult/minor sexual relationships and moments which were extremely uncomfortable but not called out. Be warned it is also very sexual, this is not a criticism, but it was something I was not expecting to that extent and did find a little difficult at times, especially when the main character was a child.

Overall, as a queer woman I am glad I read it due to its importance to the community but I do not know if I could recommend it to others without a whole slew of warnings attached.

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marprokup's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

This is an incredibly difficult book to rate. My intuition was to rate it at a neutral 3 stars, but I just couldn't rate it that for a few big reasons. Let me go over both the good and the bad:

This book is marvelously progressive and bold for being written in the 1970s. It is fiercely feminist and queer, yet still holds a bubbly nature with its awkward and funny scenarios. I will wholeheartedly give this book credit for its raw, honest descriptions of coming to terms with being queer, and the blunt desire that Molly has to be an independent woman. This book can make you uncomfortable, but with a humbling familiarity to real human experiences. This holds so much weight and I want to give credit to that.

However, there are just some things I can't let slide about this book:

1. Rita Mae Brown's voice bleeds through the main character too often. This book is supposed to be vaguely and indirectly based off of Rita's life, but through a separate character known as Molly. Molly goes through many experiences that mirrors that of Rita's. However, it feels sometimes that Molly's character blends the line too much of being her own, individual character in a novel versus simply being a vessel of Rita's thoughts. This includes some lengthy sections that are heavily narcissistic and self-righteous that can get annoying to read at times. However this is a gradual shift, since Molly seemed to be much more of her own individual character in the first half of the book. As a result, many of the characters introduced in the last half of the novel seem to contribute very little to Molly's character development or the story (*spoiler* pretty much everyone after Calvin just did not leave much of an impression on me).

2. (Trigger warning) Rape and/or character inconsistencies. These two kind of go together, but alas I can only really explain through **spoilers**: In the second to last chapter of the book, Molly berates another film student who did his final film project on a half people/martian gang-rape. Obviously, yes, not good. However, Molly also pressured Polina into having sex with her earlier in the book while intoxicated. Polina tries to mention this, asking why Molly wouldn't have asked before kissing her, but Molly says it wouldn't have done much good because she would have said no (yikes). This may have been an intentional character flaw, however I find that hard to believe based on the way Molly's character was written. She's not particularly meant to be disliked.

3. (Trigger warning) Justifying (consensual) incest. Consent is justified towards the latter half of the book, but there are two separate incest incidents that are nonchalantly justified and accepted. ( ****Spoilers** until the end of this paragraph**): In the beginning of the book, a young Molly and her non-biologically related cousin Leroy decide to try having sex together since they are both confused by their sexuality. Although the early relationship Molly had with Leroy was uncomfortable, it really drove Molly's character development as she tries to figure out her sexuality at a young age. This wasn't where I was set off and decided to bring down my ranking of the book. It was when Molly is with Polina and her daughter Alice that I really was set off and disturbed. Molly and Alice (who is 16) talk about her and her mother having sex together, and how Alice believes her mom is attracted to her. They both address this as fine as long as it's consensual. I could not seem to find any connection or point to bringing up this conversation of incest. It had almost no contribution to Molly's character development, to the plot, or any other themes in the book. It was simply justifying incest just to... justify it. This is such a traumatizing and disagreeable stance that it just made me upset that it was included at all when it served minimal purpose in the book, but take that as you will.

4. Sex with minors. Don't think I need to say much more about this. Minor (no names mentioned) spoiler: a 16 year old is sexualized towards the last half of the book and a 24-year-old has sex with her.

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marieketron's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I can see why this is a classic. Like many other readers I really enjoyed how molly is so completely in touch with her sexuality from the get go, and completely unapologetic about it. I also really connected with her revisiting her home town, as I was listening to this while back in nu own hometown. Anna Paquin was very well cast as the narrator. All that being said im not sure I would recommend this to just anyone. There is some really good stuff about male/female friendships, mother/daughter relationships, female friendships and insecurities, queer identity of course. But it all feels a bit rough as well, with everything bleeding out in the open and not much finesse (an effect which I'm sure to took a lot to create). That definitely has appeal and I enjoyed it but it might not be for everyone.

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raesengele's review against another edition

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lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

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