“i Feed On Queer Literature.” Michelle Tea On Her Ten Favorite Gay Books

Everything is coming up rainbow successful nan period of June, but my bookshelves are queer 365 days a year, gurl. I provender connected queer literature—the support they springiness me, mostly to conscionable beryllium myself, to push astatine nan edges of my weirdness aliases outrage, to root nan spots I’ve prettied-up for nan world, often without realizing. Now much than ever, we request queer books for illustration a footwear successful nan look to nan existent onslaught of fascism: we person ever been here, we will ever beryllium here, arguably we are conscionable getting started.

The purity of queer consciousness: a abstraction that prompts you to ask, why? Why person we thought location were only 2 genders? Why person we upheld dyadic matrimony arsenic nan eventual narration structure? Why are truthful galore group acrophobic of questions, and what should we do erstwhile that fearfulness is weaponized astatine us? What have we done, historically? While I emotion reference nan newest queer books—indeed, I person taken to publishing them; I haven’t listed immoderate DOPAMINE titles here, because it seemed for illustration cheating aliases something, but I impulse you each to drawback Clement Goldberg’s sexy rollick, New Mistakes; Vera Blossom’s Eve Babbitz-y How to Fuck Like a Girl, and Shawn Stewart Riff’s harrowing Days Running—I americium besides perpetually re-reading books from our queer past, to retrieve really to unrecorded and support queer ancestors alive. In grant of Valencia, nan autofiction I wrote erstwhile I was 25 getting a 25th-anniversary edition, present are immoderate queer titles that request to beryllium publication and re-read, sparking caller synapses each time.

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Ariel Gore, Rehearsals for Dying: Digressions connected Love and Cancer
(Amethyst Editions)

I was conscionable reasoning astir really Ariel Gore is 1 of my favourite writers. The measurement she writes astir her ain queer life is ruthless, wry, clever, funny, guileless, sharp, spooky, truthful honest, truthful brutally simple. I ever cognize I’m getting nan wise truth from an Ariel Gore book, and who doesn’t want immoderate wise truth connected death? This book feels for illustration it was written successful existent time, arsenic nan author’s beloved butch gets a fatal crab diagnosis, and it keeps us, her readers, pinch her til nan end. It’s stunning, and wrenching, and upsetting and funny. Also, putting ‘Digressions’ in your subtitle fundamentally gives you support to do immoderate nan fuck you want arsenic a writer, very smart, Ariel Gore, I’m going to bargain that.

Justin Chin, Gutted
(Manic D Press)

Justin Chin was a queer writer who was known for his unrecorded readings and capacity texts. He died successful 2015 successful San Francisco, wherever he was known and loved by each for his outrageous, filthy, subversive and often panic work. I impulse to familiarize yourself pinch his galore books, particularly during these stupid times, because Justin ‘s activity was angry successful a benignant of exhausted way, and it is simply a very bully weary and knowing companion to our moment. I urge opening pinch Gutted, which is truthful overmuch astir being an migrant and surviving pinch HIV. If nan world had put nan aforesaid oculus connected nan poesy segment of San Francisco successful that era arsenic they had connected nan Beats successful nan 50s (why didn’t they? Because everyone was truthful gay?), Justin would been our Ginsberg pinch nan title poem, The Gutted, which shares what hap to nan champion minds of his generation. Though it feels icky to comparison him to Ginsberg—who I love, actually—because Justin Chin is conscionable better.

Alison Rumfitt, Brainwyrms
(Tor Nightfire)

Alison Rumfitt’s debut novel, Tell Me I’m Worthless, is 1 of my favourite of each times, and I was almost frightened to publication Brainwyrms, partly because she is simply a fucking terrifying writer and I knew nan book would freak retired my brain, and besides because, like, what if she decided to do thing different and nan book is, like, a romcom aliases a occidental aliases something? But of course, it is called Brainwyrms, and it is not conscionable astir parasites it is astir having a parasite fetish, and it is graphic, because why would you constitute specified a book if you weren’t going to glory successful really fucking gross it tin get. It besides uses parasitical infection arsenic a metaphor for transphobia and TERF-ism, and nan writer indulges successful immoderate is nan opposite of instrumentality fabrication is, giving immoderate genuinely heinous scenes to an arch-villain intelligibly crafted aft Jerk King Rowling. If you for illustration to retired a book down for a sec truthful you tin metabolize nan grotesque scary of what you conscionable read, you’ll emotion Alison Rumfitt and you’ll emotion this book.

Jaimie Cortez, Gordo: Stories
(Grove)

If you request a mouthwash book to publication aft reference Brainwyrms (kind of for illustration watching a Pee-wee Herman movie aft immoderate A24 horror), prime up this collection, which manages to beryllium really fucking sweet, giving america each nan tenderness and each nan roughness of life for a queer, chubby kid successful an migrant farmworking organization successful California. The prose is truthful agleam and zingy and strong, nan kids’ speech is funny and spot-on, nan various scenarios—fist-fights and migration raids, existent heartache and convulsive partners—are ne'er sugar-coated, but nan attraction pinch which nan writer handles it each fits specified things into nan warp and weft of life, a benignant of accepting study that resonates pinch puerility consciousness. With an insiders keen and, yeah, loving oculus connected it all, nan writer brings america nan mundane life of a organization that lives and useful connected nan edges of American culture, and it’s harsh and beautiful, large arsenic nan world and nary large thing, either.

Michael Bullock and Cesar Padilla (eds), intro by Brontez Purnell, I Could Not Believe It: The 1979 Teenage Diaries of Sean DeLear
(Semiotext(e))

I americium presently successful mid-scarf pinch this book, conscionable inhaling nan teenaged sexploits of this incredibly daring and self-knowing California teen who kept a awesome diary astatine nan extremity of nan 70s. In emotion pinch boys, trolling for cock successful known cruising spots, yearning for a piano, taking acting lessons while he cuts retired of precocious school—this kid is surviving his champion life and he knows it. DeLear went connected to beryllium a queer, punk icon and glamorous queen of scenes precocious and debased earlier dying excessively young of crab successful 2017. His diary is simply a gift. In an era afloat of sanitized YA, it’s grounding and inspiring to publication what life was for illustration for a existent queer teen successful nan 70s, unabashed, sex-positive, confident, fearless and truthful fucking cute, tiny for illustration a small 15 twelvemonth aged homo ever is. A doc connected DeLear’s life is premiering successful Los Angeles this period and will surely make its measurement to you. Grab his diary and bony up (hehe) before you drawback it.

Luke Dani Black, Pretend It’s My Body: Stories
(Amethyst Editions)

I emotion this uncanny, off-kilter literate exploration of what it intends to modulation aliases beryllium dysphoric. Attacking nan concepts pinch an separator of Black Mirror, youthful characters forgo nan accent of a assemblage altogether and upload themselves to a neural machine network, activity oblivion from sentient boulders. They suffer from telepathy. They adopt babies to further their dysfunctional ayahuasca scam. The last story, a agelong portion called Dogs of America, is each gritty Greyhound autobus realness, search a downwardly spiraling young trans feline looking for a spot to onshore successful America, whispers of infamous unit each astir him. What a awesome book!

James Hannaham, Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta
(Back Bay Books)

Is this possibly nan champion book successful nan world? Carlotta Mercedes, a trans female who transitioned successful situation and, freshly sprung, has to get correct to activity keeping herself retired of prison, a task that is waaaay much challenging than 1 without acquisition pinch incarceration would know, arsenic nan rules and expectations don’t statement up pinch people’s lived and abilities astatine all. While Carlotta navigates her family and vicinity while femme for nan first time, she’s perpetually but nan tiniest fuck-up distant from being locked up again, and nan tenseness of this situation—paved complete pinch nan liveliest speech ever written afloat of slang and curses, patois and hilarity and desperation. This is simply a funny book astir a superior subject—my fave—and it features 1 of nan very champion characters I’ve ever loved, Carlotta, and I hap to springiness a very superior crap what happened to her, from nan electrical first page til nan last

Jean Genet, The Thief’s Journal
(Grove Press)

I don’t want to spot a azygous Be Gay Do Crime sticker connected your h2o vessel if you haven’t publication The Thief’s Journal. I’m nary Genet scholar, but I judge this is nan astir overtly truthful and straightforward book nan icon ever penned, astir his clip arsenic a subject deserter sneaking crossed nan borders of Europe, doing drugs, doing crime, and being criminally, gayly intersexual pinch cheery criminals. As in, ‘We very quickly decided to time off aft robbing nan gentleman. We were were to spell to Poland wherever Michaelis knew immoderate counterfeiters . . . I had been nan beloved of truthful beautiful a vertebrate of prey, a miscreant of nan finest breed . . . ‘  Throughout it all, nan prose –  murky, past transcendent, poetic and hallucinogenic and psychological.

Jeremy Atherton Lin, Deep House: The Gayest Love Story Ever Told
(Little Brown and Company)

I emotion love loved Jeremy’s first book, nan acclaimed Gay Bar, wherein he mashed up his individual acquisition of cheery bars and nightlife pinch his adorable lover/sidekick Famous pinch a larger history astir queer spaces and place. Now he is bringing nan aforesaid curen to a deeper telling of he and Famous—addressed present only arsenic ’You,’ making nan full book arsenic friendly arsenic a emotion letter—their coming together and eventual matrimony successful spite of American and British homophobia and migration hardships. Jeremy weaves nan tales of different star-crossed cross-cultural queer lovers throughout, arsenic good arsenic nan governmental debates occurring apace their courtship, each of it group crossed a very 90s taste scenery successful cities for illustration San Francisco and London, which were enjoying a grungy, queer boom. So galore stories to juggle and Jeremy, who is such a awesome writer, does it expertly, detached capable to laic it each retired for america for illustration cinema, adjacent capable to fto america consciousness nan hearts successful these 2 young lovers.

Eileen Myles, I Must Be Living Twice: New and Selected Poems
(Ecco)

Can I person a book database without an Eileen Myles book? Nope, I cannot. I was truthful happy erstwhile this came out, because I had mislaid way of my transcript of Not Me, which is tragic, because it was what I was reference nan entire time I was penning Valencia, for illustration reference reading finishing starting complete reference reading etc you get it. It said to my pained feelings astir my breakup pinch ‘Iris’, my emotion for her, etc., that I really outlined a cardinal passages from it pinch a yellowish highlighter I’d stolen from work, till nan full book was exploded and shot-through pinch glowing, damp ink. Sigh. But now I person this collection, which is awesome and contains poems by Eileen from 1975 til 2014, erstwhile it was published alongside a caller merchandise of Chelsea Girls. Eileen’s books are for illustration beatified books to maine and this makes maine want to do a bibliomancy divination pinch it correct now arsenic I constitute this. Eileen is, of course, a profoundly belief writer and thinker, profoundly philosophical and wild-minded, and what pinch poesy being truthful awesome for divination, their poems successful peculiar onshore well. Here we go. What does nan consciousness of this Eileen Myles postulation want america to meditate upon? ‘The lines are designs for thing real, really overmuch abstraction astir nan slender bars I crook and style successful nan sanction of my world. ‘From ‘The Poet,’ Maxfield Parish, 1995.

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Michelle Tea’s Valencia, with a foreword by Maggie Nelson, is disposable now from Serpent’s Tail.