Queer | Litsy

Queer | William S. Burroughs

so-so

There is something oddly compelling to Burroughs‘ writing. His central character (and surrogate) is unlikeable, predatory, self-centred and desperate but I do feel sorry for him in some ways. 6/10

5 likes

danx

Queer | William S. Burroughs

pick

Spurred by the (way too long imho) movie I finally picked up a copy of Queer. Interesting and descriptive in its time and places, somewhat disjointed, not entirely satisfying but still good. More accessible than his later works. His protagonist isn‘t exactly likeable but I don‘t believe that is the intent. Glad to have finally read it.

5 likes

GatheringBooks

Queer | William S. Burroughs

#ReadingResolutions Day 19: Just a few of the amazing #BookFace(s) I chanced upon the Internet. Awesomesauce.

Jess7

TheLibrarian Ooo those are pretty good!! 7y

94 likes1 comment

Tex2Flo

Queer | William S. Burroughs

#riotgrams. #queerreads
...too literal?...

9 likes1 stack add

Soubhiville

Queer | William S. Burroughs

Who can help me out?

Bonus points for YA, but adult books too.

MCYmermaid Not Your Sidekick etc. by C.B. Lee 7y

DivaDiane Not YA but

Slow River

Broke_Girl_Reads

Everything Leads to You

See All 16 Comments

Broke_Girl_Reads Also, let me introduce you to https://lgbtqreads.com — you can search #queerbooks by genre, age group, or romance tropes. You can also send asks to the tumblr page and get more specific recs! 7y

Rudis Every Heart A Doorway by Seanan McGuire! The rest of the series also features non-straight protagonists 7y

Redwritinghood I think my current audiobook qualifies.

Black Wave

Owlizabeth If you‘re into fantasy

Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes Part One: Millunnium Approaches

All I Love and Know: A Novel

DivineDiana

Lily and the Octopus

Soubhiville @MCYmermaid @DivineDiana @Broke_Girl_Reads @Rudis @Redwritinghood @Owlizabeth @LauraBeth @Prairiegirl_reading @Beachesnbooks Thank you all so much! That gives me a huge list to look for! ❤️ 7y

Bklover Just what I was looking for! Thanks! 7y

55 likes16 comments

Jabberwocky

Queer | William S. Burroughs

Okay hi again friends, sorry to clutter up everyone‘s feeds. I‘m really struggling with the google forms for the queer valentines swap so it is cancelled and I am taking down the last posts. Sorry guys!!

Kaye Do you mean people are signing up that don‘t want to take part ? Sorry it didn‘t work out 😕 8y

Jabberwocky @Kaye no, im just not technologically savvy enough to make the form work. It wasn‘t allowing anyone to fill it out even if they wanted to do so 8y

Kaye Oh. Well I wouldn‘t be much help in that area myself. I‘d have no clue how to do it. Do you think any of the others who have run swaps before could give you instructions to help ? 8y

Wife Sounds frustrating!😖 8y

21 likes4 comments

Jas16

Queer | William S. Burroughs

#startswithq #maybookflowers

46 likes

DeborahSmall

Queer | William S. Burroughs

I see the term and tags #queerreads #queerbooks etc a lot on Litsy. In Glasgow/Scotland it would be very offensive, my brother is gay and suffered a homophobic attack 10 years ago, stabbed in the thigh outside a gay nightclub, and called a 'queer' by attacker. My sister is also gay. She lived in Ireland with me for over 10 years, she said if she was labelled queer she'd find it offensive too. So I'm just wondering what people in uk/Ireland think?

DeborahSmall My brother is 34 he said maybe younger generation is different but the 2 words he finds most derogatory when referring to gays would be, a queer or a faggott. So I don't know if it's an American term or it a generation thing?? 9y

jpmcwisemorgan That's interesting. I see queer a lot in the US but I don't know if there's a generational difference in usage. 9y

tpixie I'm a 54 yo in USA. I wouldn't call anyone queer- it was a derogatory term for me growing up. Lol. I'm 56! Oops! 9y

See All 18 Comments

LectricSheep I feel like it's a way of reclaiming a derogatory term. But I don't think people usually use the term to refer to individuals, since that seems like it could still be offensive. I see it used to talk about groups/communities most often, just as shorthand for "not focused on straight/cis people." 9y

Yamich49 I live in the US but I think it's probably a generational thing (here at least) - like @LectricSheep mentioned, it's a reclaiming thing. It's the term I use when describing myself and I know lots of other folks my age or younger (20s or teens) who prefer to use it as well. I wouldn't call anyone else queer unless I know they refer to themselves that way since I know some folks still consider it a slur. I do see it used a lot in the book community. 9y

Lindy In Canada, "queer" is often used as an umbrella term, broader and more inclusive than LGBT (or even longer strings of letters). 9y

DeborahSmall @LectricSheep @Yamich49 @Lindy @tpixie @jpmcwisemorgan Thanks guys. I just wince every time I see it and asked my brother last night about his thoughts, he said it was 100% derogatory, I found it hard to explain that the people using it 100% weren't using it in that way. He couldn't understand that word being used as a positive, when it's been a slur to him his whole life. 9y

Lindy @DeborahSmall Thank you for inspiring me to do a lot of Internet searching on this topic. It reminds me how important it is to remain respectful to the hurtful power of words, and specifically, not to use the word queer when I'm in Scotland. I've been a lesbian activist for over 30 years, so I have seen a lot of shifting semantics. Meanwhile, this website has a good article on North American attitudes http://queergrace.com/queer/ 9y

Lindy @DeborahSmall I have a vivid memory of an encounter with a young Scot in Montreal in 1981. I was wearing a button with the word "dyke," and there was some initial confusion on both sides until I asked him what the word meant to him. "A prostitute" was his answer. 9y

DeborahSmall @Lindy Thank you for the article and for informing me! 💞 9y

DeborahSmall @Lindy Wow! Dyke is actually another slur. Aimed at lesbians who are butch looking. One of my sisters is gay, Eileen has very long hair but is sporty and has often been referred to as a dyke. Her ex wife is 10 years older she had very short hair. The ignorant would ask her 'so is heather the dyke in the marriage' words or rather, the misuse of them are very powerful 9y

DeborahSmall @Lindy when I was talking with my brother last night he said the word 'dyke' along with 'queer' and 'faggott' were his most hated words. 9y

jpmcwisemorgan @DeborahSmall I know there have been attempts to take back a word, if you will - something that's been used in a derogatory way. I don't know if that's what's happened in the US. I think that this discussion highlights how important communication is because we might say something one way that is acceptable where we are but that's not true elsewhere. 9y

Lindy @jpmcwisemorgan @DeborahSmall Reclaiming a slur is a long process. Among lesbians, "dyke" can be used casually & comfortably (depending on the group) but these same people can perceive the word as hurtful when directed towards them by someone outside. Even the word "woman" can be used as an epithet, in some contexts. 9y

jpmcwisemorgan @Lindy Woman can definitely be used as an epithet. Reclaiming slurs is definitely a long hard road and I think recent political events are going to make it harder. 9y

DeborahSmall @Lindy @jpmcwisemorgan I definitely agree with you both. I find it crazy that the word 'dyke' and 'queer' could ever be acceptable but I understand the idea of taking that word back and turning it into a positive. 9y

tpixie @jpmcwisemorgan yes exactly And it's a constantly moving target. Depending on each persons experience. We just try and apologize when needed and keep learning! 9y

Bibliogeekery I identify as queer. The term has a painful history for sure. In my community it has been reclaimed and is now a term that is more inclusive than gay or even LGBT because it includes more gender variance, cultural variance and diverse sexualities. 9y

36 likes18 comments

NovelGirl82

Queer | William S. Burroughs

RIP William S. Burroughs #theeleventhcommandment #hesgotjokes

12 likes

FaisalJ

Queer | William S. Burroughs

pick

Recovering American junkie in Mexico struggling to cope with withdrawal. Filling his void with casual male partners and drinking. It's about loneliness, dreams and dead ends. Frank and honest description of 50s expat gay life in Mexico. It shows how sad and lonely that lifestyle can be. 8.5/10.

4 likes1 stack add

FaisalJ

Queer | William S. Burroughs

"No one is really alone. You are part of everything alive." It's a calming way to see the world. Everyone has the fear of being alone. Being a part of everything makes life a little bare able.

1 like

Welcome to Litsy!

Trending Hashtags

Trending Books