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A review by notthatcosta
Gay Bar: Why We Went Out by Jeremy Atherton Lin
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
Even though I am what Jeremy Atherton Lin describes as a 'cozy queer', I deeply appreciate his careful and thoughtful archiving of queer history through nightlife, adding to the canon from the likes of Alim Kheraj and Dan Glass.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
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