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Serving Pride: The Queer History Dinner Party Handbook
85 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 26, 2020
It’s somewhat difficult for me to give this book a proper review. I used to write for geeksout when I was barely 18, and I still enjoy seeing what the company, and Joey Stern himself, have to offer. That being said, I’ll try to make this as objective as possible.
If you’re looking for a well organized and researched book on the history of queer culture, particularly in America, then this is going to be one of the most accessible options for you. I would argue that Serving Pride is one of the best introductory books to the topic of queer history in America, as it gives a lot of information while using both inclusive and easily readable language. I call it “introductory”, despite it covering a wide range of topics, because I feel it’s one of the best places for someone to start their understanding of queer history. You don’t need much background information to dive right in. But on the flip end of this, I wouldn’t except a queer studies student researching a specific instance in history, such as stonewall, to get much out of this besides some interesting and unique anecdotes. Thankfully, the target audience doesn’t seem to be academics, but instead young queer folks looking to learn more about their heritage. A target audience that I think this book is very appropriate for.
All that being said, there is a somewhat glaring issue with this book that prevents me from giving it a full 5stars. In fact, I would imagine that it’s something many people might have harsher opinions on then me, since it’s essentially the conceit of the book.
Serving pride is advertised as “The Queer History Dinner Party Handbook”. At first it’s hard to understand what this means, as it seems like it’s either a history of queer dinner parties, or a handbook of queer history laid out like a dinner party. This confusion is likely not on the fault of the author, but you have to actually look inside to discover it’s the latter, which might prevent people from getting this book who would be interested in it, simply because they thought it was about dinner parties.
But that’s not the real problem this book has. It’s that this main concept of hosting a dinner party to learn about queer history doesn’t really...work? At least not in the way that Serving Pride would like for it to. The activities aren’t really “activities” they are symbolic actions that seem to interrupt the flow of both information and food consumption rather than have any meaningful affect on their audience. This is where I feel the target audience doesn’t align with every aspect of this book. You’ll have a much harder time finding people who would like to have an actual dinner party using these activities, than you would finding people who would be interested in reading the book for the sake of reading it.
That being said, do I believe those activities are a complete waste of time? No, I think there are people out there who enjoy artistic symbolism, and if you can find a group who is willing to participate in such a dinner party, then go for it. I would still argue that the activities should be less focused on simply symbolic acts with a gush of information attached, and instead adjusted to a more appropriate style of education (since it’s a dinner party, I was expecting a more constructivist style). Some of them are cute, but the majority of them don’t have a place outside of a classroom, and even in a classroom they are the types of activities that are best used for queer team building, or for elementary school classrooms. Outside of these areas, I would say you’re probably better off reading this as an accessible book to queer history, rather than use it for actually hosting a dinner party.
Final note: the art is amazing, the anecdotes are interesting, the information itself is laid out excellently, and if you ignore the activities (or have a very specific group that will appreciate them) then you’re going to love this book.
If you’re looking for a well organized and researched book on the history of queer culture, particularly in America, then this is going to be one of the most accessible options for you. I would argue that Serving Pride is one of the best introductory books to the topic of queer history in America, as it gives a lot of information while using both inclusive and easily readable language. I call it “introductory”, despite it covering a wide range of topics, because I feel it’s one of the best places for someone to start their understanding of queer history. You don’t need much background information to dive right in. But on the flip end of this, I wouldn’t except a queer studies student researching a specific instance in history, such as stonewall, to get much out of this besides some interesting and unique anecdotes. Thankfully, the target audience doesn’t seem to be academics, but instead young queer folks looking to learn more about their heritage. A target audience that I think this book is very appropriate for.
All that being said, there is a somewhat glaring issue with this book that prevents me from giving it a full 5stars. In fact, I would imagine that it’s something many people might have harsher opinions on then me, since it’s essentially the conceit of the book.
Serving pride is advertised as “The Queer History Dinner Party Handbook”. At first it’s hard to understand what this means, as it seems like it’s either a history of queer dinner parties, or a handbook of queer history laid out like a dinner party. This confusion is likely not on the fault of the author, but you have to actually look inside to discover it’s the latter, which might prevent people from getting this book who would be interested in it, simply because they thought it was about dinner parties.
But that’s not the real problem this book has. It’s that this main concept of hosting a dinner party to learn about queer history doesn’t really...work? At least not in the way that Serving Pride would like for it to. The activities aren’t really “activities” they are symbolic actions that seem to interrupt the flow of both information and food consumption rather than have any meaningful affect on their audience. This is where I feel the target audience doesn’t align with every aspect of this book. You’ll have a much harder time finding people who would like to have an actual dinner party using these activities, than you would finding people who would be interested in reading the book for the sake of reading it.
That being said, do I believe those activities are a complete waste of time? No, I think there are people out there who enjoy artistic symbolism, and if you can find a group who is willing to participate in such a dinner party, then go for it. I would still argue that the activities should be less focused on simply symbolic acts with a gush of information attached, and instead adjusted to a more appropriate style of education (since it’s a dinner party, I was expecting a more constructivist style). Some of them are cute, but the majority of them don’t have a place outside of a classroom, and even in a classroom they are the types of activities that are best used for queer team building, or for elementary school classrooms. Outside of these areas, I would say you’re probably better off reading this as an accessible book to queer history, rather than use it for actually hosting a dinner party.
Final note: the art is amazing, the anecdotes are interesting, the information itself is laid out excellently, and if you ignore the activities (or have a very specific group that will appreciate them) then you’re going to love this book.
November 18, 2021
I AM happily keeping my promise to read more LGBTQIAPlus literature, and more often.
I had purchased "Serving Pride: The Queer History Dinner Party Handbook," created by Joey Stern & Josh Siegel, with Jay Gundacker and Aria Baci, at the second day of FlameCon2019. As I may have mentioned in a previous review, Flame Con is the premier LGBTQ comic con, which debuted in Brooklyn, NYC, NY in 2015.
Anyway, at the one in 2019, I purchased this book, and I enjoyed it very much. I enjoyed learning more about Queer History, as well as pleasantly surprised to discover various recipes (then again, the subtitle is "The Queer History Dinner Party Handbook").
Regarding the recipes, I especially enjoyed reading the ones for the "Rising Phoenix," the "Louisiana Faerie Sunrise" and, of course, "All the Harvey, None of the Milk."
The book also has a short, but comprehensive bibliography, and several of the books listed are definitely future purchases.
This book is fun, lively, deep, poignant and truly a wonderful way to connect to one's Queerness on a deeper level. I highly recommend it.
I had purchased "Serving Pride: The Queer History Dinner Party Handbook," created by Joey Stern & Josh Siegel, with Jay Gundacker and Aria Baci, at the second day of FlameCon2019. As I may have mentioned in a previous review, Flame Con is the premier LGBTQ comic con, which debuted in Brooklyn, NYC, NY in 2015.
Anyway, at the one in 2019, I purchased this book, and I enjoyed it very much. I enjoyed learning more about Queer History, as well as pleasantly surprised to discover various recipes (then again, the subtitle is "The Queer History Dinner Party Handbook").
Regarding the recipes, I especially enjoyed reading the ones for the "Rising Phoenix," the "Louisiana Faerie Sunrise" and, of course, "All the Harvey, None of the Milk."
The book also has a short, but comprehensive bibliography, and several of the books listed are definitely future purchases.
This book is fun, lively, deep, poignant and truly a wonderful way to connect to one's Queerness on a deeper level. I highly recommend it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews