{"product_id":"gay-bar-why-we-went-out-9780316458757","title":"Gay Bar: Why We Went Out","description":"\u003cb\u003eAs gay bars continue to close at an alarming rate, a writer looks back to find out what's being lost in this indispensable, intimate, and stylish celebration of history.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOne of the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Critics' Top Books of 2021 \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAn indispensable, intimate, and stylish celebration. \"\u003ci\u003eGay Bar\u003c\/i\u003e is an absolute tour de force.\" (Maggie Nelson) \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Beautiful . . . Atherton Lin has a five-octave, Mariah Carey-esque range for discussing gay sex.\" -\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eStrobing lights and dark rooms; throbbing house and drag queens on counters; first kisses, last call: the gay bar has long been a place of solidarity and sexual expression--whatever your scene, whoever you're seeking. But in urban centers around the world, they are closing, a cultural demolition that has Jeremy Atherton Lin wondering: What \u003ci\u003ewas\u003c\/i\u003e the gay bar? How have they shaped him? And could this spell the end of gay identity as we know it? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eGay Bar, \u003c\/i\u003e the author embarks upon a transatlantic tour of the hangouts that marked his life, with each club, pub, and dive revealing itself to be a palimpsest of queer history. In prose as exuberant as a hit of poppers and dazzling as a disco ball, he time-travels from Hollywood nights in the 1970s to a warren of cruising tunnels built beneath London in the 1770s; from chichi bars in the aftermath of AIDS to today's fluid queer spaces; through glory holes, into Crisco-slicked dungeons and down San Francisco alleys. He charts police raids and riots, posing and passing out--and a chance encounter one restless night that would change his life forever. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe journey that emerges is a stylish and nuanced inquiry into the connection between place and identity--a tale of liberation, but one that invites us to go beyond the simplified Stonewall mythology and enter lesser-known battlefields in the struggle to carve out a territory. Elegiac, randy, and sparkling with wry wit, \u003ci\u003eGay Bar\u003c\/i\u003e is at once a serious critical inquiry, a love story and an epic night out to remember.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Lin, Jeremy Atherton\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/31\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Back Bay Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780316458757\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 320\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.60lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.20h x 5.50w x 1.00d","brand":"Jeremy Atherton Lin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39780893884491,"sku":"9780316458757","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0021\/1697\/6715\/products\/img_3c678329-0931-47fe-9e4a-43686bc5e195.jpg?v=1654693462","url":"https:\/\/blackbookstore.com\/products\/gay-bar-why-we-went-out-9780316458757","provider":"Black Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}