Bad Gays

A Homosexual History

By: Huw Lemmey, Ben Miller

Narrated by: Ben Allen

Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

We all remember Oscar Wilde, but who speaks for Bosie? What about those 'bad gays' whose un-exemplary lives reveal more than we might expect? Too many popular histories seek to establish heroes, pioneers and martyrs but, as Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller argue, the past is filled with queer people whose sexualities and dastardly deeds have been overlooked.

Based on the hugely popular podcast series, Bad Gays subverts the notion of gay icons and queer heroes and asks what we can learn about LGBTQ+ history, sexuality and identity through its villains and baddies. From the Emperor Hadrian to anthropologist Margaret Mead and notorious gangster Ronnie Kray, the authors excavate the buried history of queer lives. This includes kings, fascist thugs such as Nazi founder Ernst Rohm, artists, and debauched bon viveurs.

Together these amazing life stories expand and challenge the mainstream assumptions of sexual identity. They show that homosexuality itself was an idea that emerged in the nineteenth century and that its interpretation has been central to major historical moments of conflict from the ruptures of Weimar Republic to red-baiting in Cold War America.

©2022 Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller (P)2022 Tantor

Fun historical information

Overall it was interesting to listen about the bad gay boys, but I did hear some date inaccuracies.

Great narrator and story, awful editing

The producers of this audiobook must have been asleep on the job. The Final Cut was not properly edited. However, I enjoyed the book. I learned a lot. I liked the chapter on Hoover and Cohn possibly the most. Also, I’d let this narrator read tax codes to me. Such a soothing voice.

Obnoxious voice of reader and underwhelming work, can I have my credit back?

A lot of random fluff and banter and historical mind wondering, this book did not connect the dots for me. The author of the book somehow was able to read the minds of its long dead subjects and tell us what they were thinking and also feeling and how everyone felt about them at the time, and somehow takes the position of an all knowing god as they describe the stories of different characters in history. Some parts are scholarly and actually refer to original source materials but unfortunately most of the book goes very much into the opinion of the author and come off as a reflection of their emotional state.

Great book but audiobook has many flaws

Several parts are read and read multiple times. Alternatives are left in the script. That said, the content of the book is spot on. 5 star content, 2 star audio production

Love it

Love the podcast and love the book. So enlightening. I always learn something new It is awesome

Stick with the history

Lemmey and Miller are at their strongest in their excavations of individual lives, prying into the obscured and absurd details of (mostly) gay men’s histories. They have a talent for laying bare embarrassing scandals in a way that is sure to evoke at least a chuckle.

That said, they often depart from the work of history to engage in commentary that is less analysis than a forced posture that stands on the border of progressive homily and self-flagellation. Their conclusions, turning their gaze away from villainous individuals, paint the history of gay people in broad and concerning strokes. To paraphrase: “the history of gay people is a history of failures, full of sin and sickness,” a statement I waited in vain for them to qualify. In their eagerness to signal their awareness of their own privileged status as white gay men, Lemmey and Miller unfortunately weaponize what is otherwise fascinating history to commercialize a toxic and inadvertently homophobic self-righteousness, what better authors have called “creating scarcity in an economy of virtue” (Angela Nagle). I could sympathize more, perhaps, if the motives for their commentary felt genuinely more self-hating than cynical.

On a technical level, the production needed more vigilant editors. The narration was excellent.

Technical Flaws, but…

…a brisk trip through queer (mostly) male history via the lives of men who were somewhere between problematic and reprehensible. In the process, the authors question our assumptions of sexual categories and show how those assumptions can hinder movements toward liberation. If you are unsure if this book is for you, check out some of the podcast episodes, although the book has a more serious and scholarly, although utterly accessible tone. It would be grand if the production company would re-edit the files, however. Ben Allen’s smooth voice deserves better than the jarring skipping and repetitions in the current version.

Theories based on outdated social definitions

the Quickest way to get me to *snort* at your academic thesis is to use the words "bourgeoisie", "proletariat", and "Marxist liberalism" in an unironic way.

Problem 1) the first two terms were defined by Marx and assume a whole bunch of Axioms that simply have not been shown to actually be true.

Problem 2) and Marxist liberalism exists only in reference to the first two terms, i.e. nonsensical.

you might as well talk about "Mercury is in retrograde" as "They are Bourgeoisie"