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growfromit's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content
notlikethebeer's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, and Islamophobia
adcamp04's review
3.75
Graphic: Sexual content
notthatcosta's review against another edition
4.25
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.
Graphic: Drug use, Homophobia, and Sexual content
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Police brutality, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
aloevera's review against another edition
Graphic: Sexual content
thecolourblue's review against another edition
3.25
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.
Graphic: Sexual content
jazhandz's review
4.0
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.
Graphic: Hate crime and Sexual content
Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, and Alcohol
Minor: Islamophobia
aus10england's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Homophobia and Sexual content
Moderate: Hate crime and Racism
lilworm's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Homophobia and Sexual content
librar_bee's review against another edition
4.5
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.
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Homophobia