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Fire Island
Fire Island: A Century in the Life of an American Paradise | Jack Parlett
4 posts | 2 read | 1 reading | 4 to read
*A Town and Country Must-Read Book of Summer?* *A BUZZFEED BEST BOOK OF JUNE* *A Washington Post Book to Read This Summer* *AN ADVOCATE BEST LGBTQ+ BOOK OF 2022* *A USA Today "Book to Celebrate Pride Month"* *A New York Times "Editor's Pick"* *A Kirkus Reviews Hottest Book of Summer* A groundbreaking account of New York's Fire Island, chronicling its influence on art, literature, culture and queer liberation over the past century Fire Island, a thin strip of beach off the Long Island coast, has long been a vital space in the queer history of America. Both utopian and exclusionary, healing and destructive, the island is a locus of contradictions, all of which coalesce against a stunning ocean backdrop. Now, poet and scholar Jack Parlett tells the story of this iconic destinationits history, its meaning and its cultural significancetold through the lens of the artists and creators who sought refuge on its shores. Together, figures as divergent as Walt Whitman, Oscar Wilde, James Baldwin, Carson McCullers, Frank O'Hara, Patricia Highsmith and Jeremy O. Harris tell the story of a queer space in constant evolution. Transporting, impeccably researched and gorgeously written, Fire Island is the definitive book on an iconic American destination and an essential contribution to queer history.
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psalva
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I was not expecting this to be what it is, more a history of the literary scene on the island than a comprehensive history of the place. In that sense, it‘s not a great introduction. Nonetheless, it outlines a timeline of the authors and artists that have visited or lived on the island and their interactions with the gay and queer community there. I‘m leaving this with a sense of how fragile and varied the idea of a “paradise” can be. ⬇️

psalva I only wish I went into this a little more well-read. As it is, I had to take a lot of Parlett‘s literary analysis at face value. I will say that I have a longer TBR at the end of this book due to the extensive bibliography included. (edited) 1y
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psalva
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Vacation memories are often evanescent and sepia-toned, and Fire Island‘s archive can feel similarly fragile, a record of a seasonal community historically designed to evade detection. Its stories vanished, perhaps, in the moment of their utterance, consigned to the ocean breeze or the grave, along with the raconteurs, flamboyant and well-connected, who first told them.
#frankohara