Fire Island Audiobook By Jack Parlett cover art

Fire Island

A Century in the Life of an American Paradise

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Fire Island

By: Jack Parlett
Narrated by: Joe Jameson
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Buy for $21.59

Buy for $21.59

A groundbreaking account of New York's Fire Island, chronicling its influence on art, literature, culture and queer liberation over the past century

Fire Island, a thin strip of beach off the Long Island coast, has long been a vital space in the queer history of America. Both utopian and exclusionary, healing and destructive, the island is a locus of contradictions, all of which coalesce against a stunning ocean backdrop.

Now, poet and scholar Jack Parlett tells the story of this iconic destination—its history, its meaning and its cultural significance—told through the lens of the artists and creators who sought refuge on its shores. Together, figures as divergent as Walt Whitman, Oscar Wilde, James Baldwin, Carson McCullers, Frank O'Hara, Patricia Highsmith and Jeremy O. Harris tell the story of a queer space in constant evolution.

Transporting, impeccably researched and gorgeously written, Fire Island is the definitive book on an iconic American destination and an essential contribution to queer history.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook. United States LGBTQIA+ Biographies & Memoirs Americas Psychology Psychology & Mental Health
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A very interesting read! I really enjoyed the book, learned a lot of cool queer history

Really good book!

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Learning gay history through the lens of Fire Island was incredible. The well researched, well thought out, and well written book is excellent. I encourage you to take a visit through this amazing piece.

Excellent

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I have never been to Fire Island but the name is part of cultural literacy so I wanted to find out more. The author is a literature student so as you would expect there are dozens of literary references to writers who spent time on Fire Island. The book does go into the geographical history of the place and it's evolution to a gay mecca. The author is gay so I appreciate the inside perspective. It veers off into commentary several times about what is the "right" way to be gay. I found it interesting but a diversion from the original reason I got the book.

Mixed Bag of history and commetary

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Excellently written and narrated. I am recommending to all of my friends whom I’ve shared many a Fire Island summer with.

Fantastic

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Story didn’t have a well thought out narrative. Political nonsense shoehorned in. Lacks depth and caters to the most surface level of thought. Narrator voice is not suitable.

Not good

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