Cracks in the Iron Closet: Travels in Gay and Lesbian Russia

by David Tuller

David Tuller provides the first look into the emotional and sexual lives of Russian lesbians and gays and the pervasive influence of the state on gay life. Part travelogue, part social history, and part journalistic inquiry, the book challenges our assumptions about what it means to be gay. The book also explores key issues in Russia and Soviet life, including concepts of friendship, community, gender, love, fate, and the relationship between the public and private spheres.

"Tuller's observant reporting and personal experiences make for absorbing the human comedy rendered in unexpected ways."— New Yorker

"Anyone who thinks San Francisco is the world capital of sexual polymorphism should read this book."—Adam Goodheart, Washington Post

"[This book is] is profoundly moving."—Jim Van Buskirk, San Francisco Chronicle

Genres: LGBT, Nonfiction, Russia, Travel, Queer, Anthropology, History

328 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

David Tuller is senior lecturer in UC Berkeley's Public Health and Journalism masters program, writes for the New York Times and Buzzfeed, and is author of a number of books, particularly focusing on human rights. Tuller is a former journalist and was an HIV/AIDS activist in the late 1980s.

More recently, he has become involved in calling for better scientific research in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), particularly by blogging on the Virology blog, and for patients regarded as having medically unexplained symptoms. Tuller has published a number of peer reviewed articles about ME/CFS treatment.

Reviews

[Jeremy Hawking · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this while living in Ukraine in the mid-2000s. It helped me understand the large gray area mindset of straight and gay friends, as well as my relationships. The differences are as many as the similarities. Great read.

[Christian Baines · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptionally insightful and surprisingly multifaceted book, written not long after the end of the Cold War, which finds new and chilling relevance in the face of current developments in LGBT Russia. If there's ever been a time for Mr Tuller's work to be revisited, it's now.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a fascinating look at a very, very different gay culture

[Brad]

Not the best written book, but I couldn't stop reading it all the same. The author's personal experience and opinion, rather than non-fictional info.