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Queer City
Queer City | Peter Ackroyd
9 posts | 7 read | 27 to read
Peter Ackroyd is our preeminent chronicler of London. In Queer City, he looks at the metropolis in a whole new way through the history and experiences of its gay population. In Roman Londinium the penis was worshipped and homosexuality was considered admirable. The city was dotted with lupanaria (wolf dens or public pleasure houses), fornices (brothels) and thermiae (hot baths). Then came the Emperor Constantine, with his bishops and clergy, monks and missionaries. His rule was accompanied by the first laws against queer practices. What followed was an endless loop of alternating permissiveness and censure, from the notorious Normans, whose military might depended on masculine loyalty, and the fashionable female transvestism of the 1620s; to the frenzy of executions for sodomy in the early 1800s and the gay plague in the 1980s. Ackroyd takes us right into this hidden city, celebrating its diversity, thrills and energy on the one hand; but reminding us of its very real terrors, dangers and risks on the other. In a city of superlatives, it is perhaps this endless sexual fluidity and resilience that epitomise the real triumph of London. 'Peter Ackroyd is the greatest living chronicler of London' Independent
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MidnightBookGirl
Queer City | Peter Ackroyd
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Pickpick

Definitely recommending! The narrator, Will Watt, is wonderful! #NFNov @Clwojick

55 likes3 stack adds
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kaysworld1
Queer City | Peter Ackroyd
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Pickpick

I really enjoyed the history in this book.
I knew a lot of it already from studying but it was nice to have the blanks filled in.
The only problem for me was this book was mainly about gay men there was only 2 chapters I remember about woman, Could of had more.
#librarybooks #pridemonth #queerbooks #queerhistory #history #gaylondon #currentlyreading #reallife 🌈👭👬🧡💜💛💚💙❤️🌺🌸🌼😍🤗

40 likes2 stack adds
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NotCool
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Mehso-so

I was disappointed by this book. It felt like a list more then anything else. I could have used more context from the author on who these people were and the lives they lived.

suzisteffen If you‘d like a book PACKED with 🏳️‍🌈context & about a specific city, I would absolutely recommend Hugh Ryan‘s super 5y
NotCool I‘ll keep my eye out for it, thanks! 5y
4 likes2 comments
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rwmg
Queer City | Peter Ackroyd
Mehso-so

Disappointing. Definitely needed reference notes for the earlier chapters and a slower more thoughtful pace in the later chapters. A so-so is being generous but a pan would be harsh.

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rwmg
Queer City | Peter Ackroyd
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15 likes1 stack add
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jenniferw88
Queer City | Peter Ackroyd
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Bibliogeekery Sounds interesting! #queerbooks 5y
GingerAntics I don‘t know why, but I love this kind of book. 5y
84 likes5 stack adds2 comments
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jenniferw88
Queer City | Peter Ackroyd
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...The officiating clergyman was one John Church, who was later accused of attempted sodomy, and in a further twist to an already extraordinary story it was reported that his friends had acted out the roles of attendant women and that at a supposed birth a pair of bellows had been used to expel a Cheshire cheese as the newborn.

😂😂😂

61 likes1 stack add
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broughtyoubooks
Queer City | Peter Ackroyd
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An interesting look at queer history, and the ever changing role and acceptance of queer relationships. Good for the history, but loses the point in the last chapter when trying to talk about trans lives and the confusing space that is social media.

61 likes4 stack adds
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shawnmooney
Queer City | Peter Ackroyd
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saresmoore This sounds like it would be equal parts fascinating and depressing, but thorough! 7y
Hobbinol I've just got to stop stacking your posts😟 7y
LeahBergen I bet the Roman era section is fascinating! 7y
55 likes7 stack adds3 comments