American Homo: Community and Perversity

by Jeffrey Escoffier

A sweeping account of the way lesbian, gay, and bisexual people have challenged and changed society

In this provocative book, Jeffrey Escoffier tracks LGBT movements across the contested terrain of American political life, where they have endured the historical tension between the homoeroticism coursing through American culture and the virulent periodic outbreaks of homophobic populism. Escoffier explores how every new success enables a new disciplinary and normalizing form of domination; only the active exercise of democratic rights and participation in radical coalitions allows LGBT people to sustain the benefits of community and the freedom of sexual perversity.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, LGBT, Queer, Politics, Gay

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Jeffrey Escoffier wrote on glbtq history, politics, culture, sexuality, music, and dance. One of the founders of OUT/LOOK: National Lesbian and Gay Quarterly, he published widely. Among his books are American Homo: Community and Perversity and a biography of John Maynard Keynes in the Chelsea House series on the Lives of Notable Gay Men and Lesbians. He co-edited (with Matthew Lore) Mark Morris' L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato: A Celebration and also edited is Sexual Revolution, an anthology of writing on sex from the 1960s and 1970s. In 2009, he published Bigger Than Life: The History of Gay Porn Cinema from Beefcake to Hardcore. He was also on the board of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at The City University of New York.

Reviews

[Lars Meijer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ondanks dat de essays soms inhoudelijk met elkaar overlappen, is de bundel een overzichtelijke en waardevolle toevoeging aan het gesprek over de politieke kracht van queers. Ik was vooral getroffen door het stuk 'Inside the Ivory Tower', over het verschil tussen 'hedendaagse' denkers en de oudere groep activisten en het effect hiervan op actie/beleid.

*4,5

[El cassidy · Rating 4 out of 5]

really interesting but feels a little disjointed

[Janet Wertman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but published in 1998 so it did not cover the key developments of the past two decades….(duh but…)