Queens' Country by Paul Burston
The gay community'. For years Paul Burston has heard talk of this fabled people, whose votes are wooed by politicians, whose pink pounds are courted by advertising executives and whose alternative lifestyle is derided by defenders of family values. But he's never been quite sure who they were. So he decided to set off and try to find them for himself. His travels around gay Britain take in a wide cross-section of people and places, from his own childhood in South Wales to middle-aged gay men enjoying a beach party in Bromley, from the gay couple running their own massage parlour in Bristol to gay Young Conservatives in Derbyshire. Along the way, he comments on the hotly debated gay issues of the day; cappuccino-culture consumerism and community politics; the age of consent and the narcissistic preoccupation with youth; backrooms in bars and gay loft conversions. Witty, irreverent and fiercely intelligent, QUEENS' COUNTRY presents the rich diversity - and occasional cultural poverty - of the forces shaping gay life in modern Britain.
Such fun.. an entertaining and topical read * INDEPENDENT 'A gay Bill Bryson … challenging, fearless, funny and microdetailed … complex, rich and satisfying to read’ *
TIME OUT * 'Funny, provocative, thoughtful and spiky … Burston is incapable of writing a boring sentence … this book screams to be read’ *
BIG ISSUE * 'Crackingly irreverent … a funny, thoughtful read’ *
THE FACE * 'A timely addition to the plethora of books on gay culture in the 1990s… His emphasis on the diversity of gay lives in the face of a commercialised gay scene is correct. But what makes Burston so much fun to read is his prickliness.’ *
TIME OUT * 'Funny, provocative, thoughtful and spiky … Burston is incapable of writing a boring sentence … this book screams to be read’ *
BIG ISSUE * 'Crackingly irreverent … a funny, thoughtful read’ *
THE FACE * 'A timely addition to the plethora of books on gay culture in the 1990s… His emphasis on the diversity of gay lives in the face of a commercialised gay scene is correct. But what makes Burston so much fun to read is his prickliness.’ *
Paul Burston is is a curator in residence at the South Bank. He is also Gay Section Editor on TIME OUT and writes forTHE GUARDIAN, THE INDEPENDENT and THE SUNDAY TIMES as well as writing & presenting TV documentaries for Channel 4. He has worked with the Gay London Policing Group & was a founding member of ACT-UP.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780349111780 |
| ISBN 10 | 0349111782 |
| Title | Queens' Country |
| Author | Paul Burston |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Little, Brown Book Group |
| Year published | 1999-06-17 |
| Number of pages | 224 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |