Faggots Kindle Edition

Great works of literature transcend their specific cultural context. "Hamlet," for example, or "Candide" or "Moby-Dick" or "The Canterbury Tales" are still considered masterpieces that resonate with significance and artistic integrity hundreds of years after they were written. Perhaps it is trickier for a satire to preserve its accessibility or its appeal as time passes, since a satire often targets topical rather than timeless concerns. Brilliantly written and insightful satires, such as “A Modest Proposal” and "Don Quixote," however, manage to remain relevant long after their heyday.Sadly, "Faggots," which fancies itself a satire and has been hailed as a tour de force of modern queer literature, merits none of these distinctions. In truth, in can hardly be characterized as a novel at all, since it lacks most of the defining elements of the genre on a very fundamental level—for example, a well-constructed plot or complex and thoughtfully developed characters. The story, such as it is, consists of allegedly witty vignettes or set pieces strung together with little sense of coherence or narrative veracity and populated by an unnecessarily large cast of undeveloped flat characters. A generous reading might presume that Kramer is attempting a stream-of-consciousness style, but if that’s the case, his novelistic skill is not up to the task, since such a style requires profound psychological insight into the complex thought patterns of a character who provides narrative perspective.Upon its publication in 1978, "Faggots" sowed controversy due to its graphic depiction of gay sex, fetishes, drug use, incest, and other scandalous “perversities.” To be fair, as a depiction of pre-AIDS era gay culture in New York City, the novel retains great cultural value as an artifact of that specific historical moment. But it cannot be considered a work of literature. One suspects that there is good reason why Kramer, who penned the magnificent play (and later screenplay) The Normal Heart and contributed greatly to queer activism in the latter part of the 20th century, never wrote another novel.

I was thirty in 1978, the year this novel was first published, and yet I’ve waited until now to read it by way of a Kindle edition, primarily because of a documentary I’ve recently viewed on television, an HBO production called Larry Kramer: In Love and Anger. I knew Kramer was an outspoken advocate of AIDS research, but somehow the film softens him, makes him more human, presents a more complete picture of the man, has made me curious enough to read his book.I think his novel now seems outdated, that, in some ways, it’s poorly written, that there are far too many characters to keep track of and care about, and that many of them are two-dimensional.However, before rising too high on their high horses, younger gay men might consider this. In the 1970s, following the Stonewall rebellion of 1969, gay men feel liberated, mostly to feast on one another; job security, civil unions, and marriage are faint, romantic dreams that have little hope of being fully realized in our lifetime. Gay bars are the depots of our underground railroad, if I may say so, and in many parts of the country our lives are still out of sight. What Mr. Kramer does manage to do is to pose the question, and he does so prior to the AIDS crisis: Why must the lives of gay men revolve entirely around the next penis they might get their hands on? Might they not settle down, like their heterosexual friends, and pursue a life in which they devote themselves to one another? If nothing else, Kramer does, to great effect, bring this prescient dream alive for us, and we should be grateful.

This is going to be a hard review for me to write because I really don't know where to start. I am very familiar with the book's author, Larry Kramer, who has been a voice (albeit LOUD voice) in his quest to get those in charge in Washington, D.C. to recognize the AIDS crisis. He formed "Act Up" when he finally got fed up with all the injustice directed towards gays when it came to health care during the AIDS crisis. He spoke vehemently about the repercussions of having unlimited sexual partners, which at the time fell mostly on deaf ears. With all these accolades, I was looking forward to finally reading his novel. Was I ever surprised.Many have said this book was a satire on the homosexual life(style). Perhaps it was, but in trying to read the novel I always felt like I was being condescended to. If you come from New York, maybe this clicked with you. Maybe a lot of this satire sailed way over my head because I'm not from New York, have never lived in a large city, never cruised Christopher Street or the Docks, or the trailers. I don't know. All I know is there was not one single character that I could feel anything for. I was overpowered by Kramer's very vivid descriptions of the sexual carnage going on, I didn't feel he made a difference in anything he championed for.I would not recommend this book unless you live in a huge city, e.g. New York, San Francisco, L. A.--someplace that may be used to all this debauchery. I was hoping for more than this that's for sure. This book is intended for mature readers and I caution any reader that may not be familiar with the gay lifestyle to stay far away from this. More of a 1-1/2 star rating than 2.

What the hell is this guy talking about? This is so outrageous that I am stunned and words can't express what I'm thinking. What did Jews have to do with this subject matter. Is this going to be a Neo-Nazi book. The people that put this book out, no matter how extraordinary it is, need to apologize big time to the Jewish community mmm. There is nothing satirical about those slurs. It's a disgrace. I will continue to read the book, but anti-Semitism has nothing to do with this subject matter. What a mess

A classic of LGBT literature the writing style is kind of chaotic but it's well worth reading because it's a classic.Also it's very funny! it's a satire on gay life pre-AIDS written by a hero of the LGBT rights movement.

I can understand why this book caused controversy amongst the gay population of the USA when it was first published, as it depicts the promiscuous lives that most of them lived in the 1970's. I did get lost with some of the characters and who they were, but it is definitely worth reading to have an understanding on how lives were actually lived back in those pre AIDs days.

What a great book! It had me hooked form the start, there was laughter and tears to be had in every chapter.

Watched The Normal Heart on TV, which introduced me to Larry Kramer, so I thought I'd give his best known work a shot. Reviews made this book seem provocative; not so much. There seems to be 100 characters in this thing all with ridiculous nicknames like Boo Boo, Dinky or Drag handles so it was hard to follow at times. Some players were readable but most were one dimensional, sex-crazed and boring. I'm not sure what he was trying to achieve here other than exposing he and his circle of friends: the dullest group of whores you never want to meet.

Historia muito bem escrita e reflexiva ,mais do que recomendado !!

For those who are looking for a funny book to read lightly and to laugh about the hypocrisy and the identity crisis a lot of gay men faced at that time this book is good. Other than that I would not recommend it owing to the the very superficial tone of the book, which promises to leave a mark but end up just scratching a scab.