L.V.

vulnerable and compelling

Revisado: 06-06-24

I loved hearing Rebel tell her own story. It's a story of coming into one's own that is highly relatable, told in a funny, smart, and irreverent style.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

couldn't put it down

Revisado: 01-20-23

Beautiful & soulful... you can sense he is telling the truth. He has his mother's spirit, her bravery, and her vulnerability. Thank you, H, for writing this.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

mothers are not saints

Revisado: 09-21-22

Thank you, Jennette, for being brave enough to be honest about your experiences in a society that doesn't leave much room for daughter's like us.
I knew our stories would have commonalities, but I was floored about one conversation in particular which was word-for-word one that I had with my own mother before she died of cancer. She, too, accused me of "giving" her cancer. I have been peeling back the layers of our complicated, enmeshed relationship forever. I think listening to your story brings me closer to healing.
Thank you. I'm sorry. And I love you.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

I wanted to love it

Revisado: 09-02-22

I really wanted to love this... as a former San Franciscan, as an AIDS activist... so much of the story was both familiar and told from a fresh perspective. I was frustrated by the authors selfishness. How could she not have been by her father's side when he was ill for so long? I cared for PWAs when their families abandoned them... I can't imagine how her father suffered.
On a superficial, yet important, level the most ANNOYING thing about this audio book was the ridiculous over-pronounciation of all the French words (and unnecessary translations into French)... it grated on my nerves in a way that made me want to stab myself repeatedly with a fork. I only persevered because the story was still important.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

painfully relatable

Revisado: 08-20-22

I couldn't put this book down. Thank you, Michelle Tea, for beautifully articulating experiences which defy words... but make one's heart plummet & soar. I loved it. I laughed and cried (cliché but true) and remembered what it took to bring my amazing rainbow daughter into the world❤️

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

must read!!!

Revisado: 01-20-22

I was late to the genius of Billy Porter, but thank the gods for Pose! He embodied Pray Tell in such a way that I knew it was beyond "acting." I also felt a kinship with him that I have no words for. (I'm white, female, queer, and an activist) but the part of Billy that I connected with is something my late mother taught me -- how to recognize TRUTH through art.

Billy is a truth-teller above all else. And that is something so beautiful, courageous and rare... and it shines through him in everything he does.

Through "Unprotected" I was swept into his world and came to understand how his pain, as well as his conviction to remain true to himself, shaped him.

I am forever a fan. The world needs more Billy Porters.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

loved this book so much!

Revisado: 12-20-21

As a former member of ACTUP Golden Gate, I can't describe how moving, inspiring, and unflinchingly accurate this telling of AIDS activism is.

I cried throughout the entire thing. Not all the time, and sometimes not even at the sad parts... but the remembrance of joy and of the activist giants who left us too soon.

ACTUP NY is, of course, legendary. And none of the actions I participated in myself were of the same grandeur, I listened with rapt attention to the stories of exactly how some of these amazing actions (which I only new about from the press afterwards) came to be. From the outside, they seemed virtually flawless - and although the meticulous planning is not to be discounted - the element of sheer luck that allowed for their success was surprising to hear!

Thank you, Peter, for writing this... for living it and for saving all the souls you did.❤

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

couldn't put it down!

Revisado: 10-05-21

I have loved Elvira since I was a little girl watching her on TV. As a perpetual outcast and spooky kid who developed early, there was a lot to identify with! Now that I know her story, I love her that much more (and cannot believe how much we have in common). Although I also pre-ordered her signed hardcover book, there's no substitute for hearing it in her own words! Those jokes never get old!!!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

invaluable glimpse into the generation before mine

Revisado: 07-17-20

I came of age in the early 90s and almost immediately joined Queer Nation and then ACT UP (Golden Gate). I remember being acutely aware that we were losing a generation of giants to AIDS. I am so grateful for Cleve's work and his book. I remember not understanding the point of the AIDS quilt... I was so wrong. I was so involved in militant activism, that it never occurred to me that grandmothers and other family members needed a way to make our struggles relevant to them. Cleve's descriptions of both San Francisco's Castro district and the sheer thrill of mass protests took me back and flooded me with memories of my own. One of my favorites being the time we held a memorial for Sister X and shut down an intersection in the Castro with drums, and queens, and fellow activists (and nuns, of course!)
This is such an important work and all of us who came of age after the 80s should read this and know a sliver of the history and people who came before us, who fought for the rights we get to take for granted today.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

don't buy this book

Revisado: 12-03-19

could not finish this book - the reader is constantly mispronouncing words and all usable info is in the first 5 minutes

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña