paperback, 128 pages
Published July 2, 2019 by Nightboat Books.
A beloved fable-manifesto from the 1970s queer counterculture. The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions, written by Larry Mitchell with illustrations by Ned Asta, takes place in a brutal empire in decline, where the faggots and their friends are surviving the ways and the world of men.
I found this book in the fiction section of the bookstore, but it’s… well, it has narrative vignettes, but I’d say it’s a work of visionary queer philosophy, with elements of satire, fable, polemic, and comfort. Maybe this book found me when I needed it, but I think it’s one of the most important books I’ve ever read. I’ll certainly be re-reading it.
it is a very fun and interesting reading. it is a playful joy to read it and you can easily do it in one session. it also really inspired me narratively because both storytelling and the language are uniquely queer. i would love to find more quirky speculative fiction like this.
it is a very fun and interesting reading. it is a playful joy to read it and you can easily do it in one session. it also really inspired me narratively because both storytelling and the language are uniquely queer. i would love to find more quirky speculative fiction like this.
Of course there are some things in there that I dislike or am critical of, but the overall experience was overwhelmingly wonderful for me. It's a heartbreakingly beautiful reflection on queer existences and the patriarchy, in a mildly fantastical style, but like, it's always clear what all the things are actually about and that makes it hurt but in a way that I liked a lot. (Except I'm still not sure if the fairies are fairies or fairies. I guess some things remain a mystery to me. But I guess they're fairies, and maybe also fairies.)
Of course there are some things in there that I dislike or am critical of, but the overall experience was overwhelmingly wonderful for me. It's a heartbreakingly beautiful reflection on queer existences and the patriarchy, in a mildly fantastical style, but like, it's always clear what all the things are actually about and that makes it hurt but in a way that I liked a lot. (Except I'm still not sure if the fairies are fairies or fairies. I guess some things remain a mystery to me. But I guess they're fairies, and maybe also fairies.)
