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Quiet fire: Memoirs of older gay men
Gay and Lesbian Studies, Homosexuality, Memoirs
- GenresNonfictionLGBTHistory
219 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 23, 2022
Faced with the ignorance of youth and the loss of many of our elder gay mentors to the AIDS epidemic — paired against the frightening resurgence of anti-LGBT rhetoric — this book is a light in the dark: a reminder that queerness has *always* been commonplace, complex, diverse, and beautiful.
July 6, 2025
A series of memoirs of old gay men is a concept so specifically tailored to me so obviously I enjoyed it and found it very valuable, though I also wish it had included some voices of "nellier" types. Like the point is explicitly said to be to show the diversity of old gay men, yet nearly every single one of these men overtly looks down on effeminacy and sees the more "obvious" types of gay men as making a bad name for gays as a group. I know that that was a common belief at the time but I would have loved to see some contrast and hear about the life of one of those men that the others looked down on, you know, to actually show diversity of opinion on gay issues.
June 18, 2013
I picked up this book because I can never get enough of learning people's life stories. Since it ties in history, culture and sexuality, how could I resist? Each person has really interesting stories to tell which often fall under the unifying themes/topics of serving in WWII, experimentation during childhood, self-acceptance, encounters with police etc.
The author's objectives:
"1) to gain insight into the history of gay persons in the 20th century; 2) to unearth a 'sense' of role models from among those I would meet; and 3) to break down the stereotype of the sad and lonely older gay in America."
My biggest criticism is that, very often while reading it, I kept wondering how are these experiences different for women? I really wished I could have heard stories in this format from older lesbians as well. Vacha explains that even though he had interviewed over 100 gay men and lesbians, "it was the publisher's belief that the subject could be better addressed if this book included only men."
The author's objectives:
"1) to gain insight into the history of gay persons in the 20th century; 2) to unearth a 'sense' of role models from among those I would meet; and 3) to break down the stereotype of the sad and lonely older gay in America."
My biggest criticism is that, very often while reading it, I kept wondering how are these experiences different for women? I really wished I could have heard stories in this format from older lesbians as well. Vacha explains that even though he had interviewed over 100 gay men and lesbians, "it was the publisher's belief that the subject could be better addressed if this book included only men."
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews