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A review by lexish00
David Bowie Made Me Gay: 100 Years of LGBT Music by Darryl W. Bullock
3.0
This was sitting on the shelf at the library and the rainbow lightning bolt jumped out at me. I have to agree with other reviewers that it was surprisingly dry, and often just felt like a list of facts with little connecting thread. So about halfway through I started treating it more as a reference, and then enjoyed it more. Bullock does a good job at introducing you to lots of artists, genres, and milestones, but there's not a ton of depth. It's ironic how invasive and awful paparazzi and tabloids have been over the past 100 years and yet that's where a ton of this information came from or was first found. There's about 5 pages of non-US/UK LGBT music discussed near the end of the book. It very much felt like it was tacked on.
As I was reading I thought, hm, there should be a playlist for all the artists mentioned, and sure enough there is!
Overall, it was interesting and I learned a lot, but at the same time it was more of a reference and jumping off point than the deep dive into influential people that I hoped for. I especially enjoyed the sections on subcultures that emerged throughout the US/UK as well as the earliest 20th century LGBT artists.
As I was reading I thought, hm, there should be a playlist for all the artists mentioned, and sure enough there is!
Overall, it was interesting and I learned a lot, but at the same time it was more of a reference and jumping off point than the deep dive into influential people that I hoped for. I especially enjoyed the sections on subcultures that emerged throughout the US/UK as well as the earliest 20th century LGBT artists.