Paperback, 113 pages
English language
Published May 7, 1991 by Calamus Books.
The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions is a beloved queer utopian text written by Larry Mitchell with lush illustrations by Ned Asta, published by Calamus Press in 1977. Part-fable, part-manifesto, the book takes place in Ramrod, an empire in decline, and introduces us to the communities of the faggots, the women, the queens, the queer men, and the women who love women who are surviving the ways and world of men. Cherished by many over the four decades since its publication, The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions offers a trenchant critique of capitalism, assimilation, and patriarchy that is deeply relevant today.
it is a very fun and interesting reading. it is a playful joy to read it and you can easily do it in one session. it also really inspired me narratively because both storytelling and the language are uniquely queer. i would love to find more quirky speculative fiction like this.
What a cheeky, whimsical little book! I can barely put my thoughts into a coherent review but I just adored every bit of it - including the format, full of beautiful illustrations and flashy titles, all little gifts and surprises as you read on.
This book is described as part manifesto, part fable, and it is indeed a very accurate description. In its conception, the author intended it to be a children's book and it shows - in the best of ways! It talks about the wretched system we live in and all the humans that find themselves in it, using beautiful aphorisms and metaphors. More specifically, it talks about the system of men, and the wide array of creatures that survive (or thrive!) in the cracks and nooks and crannies of this system.
Just such a clever, light, and lovely book. The introduction gives it some context as well …
What a cheeky, whimsical little book! I can barely put my thoughts into a coherent review but I just adored every bit of it - including the format, full of beautiful illustrations and flashy titles, all little gifts and surprises as you read on.
This book is described as part manifesto, part fable, and it is indeed a very accurate description. In its conception, the author intended it to be a children's book and it shows - in the best of ways! It talks about the wretched system we live in and all the humans that find themselves in it, using beautiful aphorisms and metaphors. More specifically, it talks about the system of men, and the wide array of creatures that survive (or thrive!) in the cracks and nooks and crannies of this system.
Just such a clever, light, and lovely book. The introduction gives it some context as well - and I believe the context might be just as important as the book itself. Larry Mitchell was a gay man who founded a queer commune and who truly strived for a queer lifestyle, way beyond his sexuality. He questioned and resisted the system, wanting no part in it. He built a life based on solidarity, care, friendships, softness, love - and rejected the assimilation of his kind into mainstream ways of living. This book tells his story and his friends' and his community's stories and it's such a lovely exercise of escapism into a queer utopia that I myself dream of, and hope to create one day. It's been decided: this will be the constitution of my future queer cottagecore commune!
