A review by katyfayyyx
Bad Gays: A Homosexual History by Ben Miller, Huw Lemmey
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
2.5
Happy Pride Month 🏳️🌈. I will be honest there was no reason why I started reading this book I just saw it on my bookshelf and I thought I wanted to read something that was non-fiction so my brain doesn't turn off after collage and it is pride month so I thought why not. Also can we have a moment of silence for that cover, I don't know why but I fucking love this cover. However, I had the same issue with this book that I did with the last book I read as a love the idea of this book I just wished another author has wrote this book because it is just such a good idea but it has been executed so poorly. I love the idea of this book and I really liked some of the chapter but at the sometime I hated some of the other chapters some where just so dead and boring and you can tell the chapter that the authors had a clear passion and interest for as they are just written with more passion and than other chapter it just felt like they had copied and pasted their wikipedia page on other people's characters. Which again puts me in a weird position because I can't rate this 3 stars because for me its means I liked all of this book which in fact I didn't there was sometimes that this book made me never want to read again, I just wanted to put this book down and never look at it again because I was just so fucking bored.
However, there was a number of elements of this book that I really did like or even love one of which was how diverse this book was when it come to race, nationality, class however I would say I wish there was more diversity when it came to gender and gender identify. I also loved how this book did not hide away from the harm and the privilege that gay white man has and the harm they have done with that and how this is not just a discussion about sexuality but about race and class and how your experience as a queer people can be different because of this other factors. I also really like the introduction and the way it set out all the idea of this book in an easy but fun and interesting way and it has definitely got my attention. it provides you with a lot of information but it does it in a clear way that keeps you interested. I would say something I thought was a little cringe was the way they would be discussing a really serious topic such as empire but then would try put a joke which 99% of the time wasn't even funny and I just wanted them to stop. I will say I liked how there was a discussion of how homosexuality has been weaponised in a number of ways such as race and antisemitism. I will also say this book was very clearly well researched, referenced with well developed points. Somethings else I really enjoyed about this book was that not of these bad gays are actually bad however does not shy away from their bad and sometimes evil behaviour but also adds a new perspective but not justifying it.
However, they are the only things
However, there was a number of elements of this book that I really did like or even love one of which was how diverse this book was when it come to race, nationality, class however I would say I wish there was more diversity when it came to gender and gender identify. I also loved how this book did not hide away from the harm and the privilege that gay white man has and the harm they have done with that and how this is not just a discussion about sexuality but about race and class and how your experience as a queer people can be different because of this other factors. I also really like the introduction and the way it set out all the idea of this book in an easy but fun and interesting way and it has definitely got my attention. it provides you with a lot of information but it does it in a clear way that keeps you interested. I would say something I thought was a little cringe was the way they would be discussing a really serious topic such as empire but then would try put a joke which 99% of the time wasn't even funny and I just wanted them to stop. I will say I liked how there was a discussion of how homosexuality has been weaponised in a number of ways such as race and antisemitism. I will also say this book was very clearly well researched, referenced with well developed points. Somethings else I really enjoyed about this book was that not of these bad gays are actually bad however does not shy away from their bad and sometimes evil behaviour but also adds a new perspective but not justifying it.
However, they are the only things
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Transphobia, Antisemitism, Biphobia, Colonisation, Homophobia, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Death and Sexual content
Minor: Genocide, Cursing, and War