A review by max_the_lesbrarian
Queer Country by Shana Goldin-Perschbacher

5.0

This book is likely going to be the nearest and dearest to my heart non-fiction book I read this year. Goldin-Perschbacher does a beautiful job of describing the current state of country music and how queer identities and community have found their beautiful niche within the genre. As a queer person who generally quite enjoys country and folk music (and has a lot of issues with the misogyny, racism, homophobia, and jingoism that has become more of a mainstream within the genre) reading this book was like a breath of fresh air and a warm hug. It looked me dead in the eye and said, you belong in this community, there are others like you, and we love you.

Overall, it was an excellent analysis of current popular queer country icons and queer country music's history using a variety of sources from the music itself, interviews, and scholarly resources. The book itself is an invaluable source, but I am also excited to delve into the huge bibliography and other sources in the back of the book as well!

I cannot recommend this book enough to those who love country music, want to explore queer music history, and queer identity and community.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the University of Illinois Press for the e-ARC. I loved this book so much I ended up buying myself a physical copy.