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Content snapshot
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Violence
Very heavy
Brutal and repeated police violence, gang beatings, and rape depicted unflinchingly; among the most violent portrayals of anti-queer violence in literary fiction
Language
A lot
Strong language throughout, including period slurs
Sexual Content
A lot
Explicit sexual content in the context of queer bars and relationships; also rape depicted
Substance Use
Some
Significant substance use in the bar and working-class culture of the period
Emotional Intensity
Very heavy
The cumulative psychological trauma of living as a gender-nonconforming person in a violently hostile society — the loss of community, identity, and physical safety — is the novel's devastating emotional core
What this book is about
Leslie Feinberg's 1993 semi-autobiographical novel follows Jess Goldberg, a butch lesbian and trans man, from childhood in Buffalo through the factory floors, bars, and gender-nonconforming communities of the 1960s and 70s. The novel depicts police raids on gay bars, brutal beatings by cops, rape, and the underground networks of survival built by people marginalized by both straight and mainstream gay society. Required reading for understanding trans and butch history. The violence and trauma are extensive and not sanitized.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Graphic police brutality and anti-queer violence
Rape depicted
Extensive trauma throughout
Reader Verification
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