I’ve been a fan of the podcast for some time. Unfortunately, the book just doesn’t work as well. Without the conversational tone and the episodic structure facilitated by the podcast format, Bad Gays feels somewhat bloated and disjointed. It lacks a consistent throughline to tie the chapters together; yes, the introduction and conclusion put forward the idea that homosexuality is a failed project, but this feels tacked on because the biographical segments don’t explore the subject, at least not as explicitly as I’d like.

Bad Gays is not a bad book by any means, but it is unrefined. It doesn’t do anything that the podcast doesn’t already do (and do better)

CONTENT WARNINGS: homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, racism, antisemitism, islamophobia, fascism, colonialism, slavery, torture, abuse, death, terminal illness, suicide, pederasty and other instances of dubiously-consensual sex and sexual assault