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A facsimile edition of the classic 1970s book with new essays and archival material.
40th anniversary reprinting of a beloved fable-manifesto from the 1970s queer counterculture. The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions, written by Larry Mitchell with illustrations by Ned Asta, takes place in a brutal empire in decline, where the faggots and their friends are surviving the ways and the world of men. Beloved by many since its publication, now with new essays by Morgan Bassichis and Tourmaline, this book offers a trenchant and irreverent critique of capitalism, assimilation, and patriarchy that is deeply relevant today.
Author: Larry Mitchell
Paperback Published August 2019 128 page
“It’s 1977. The faggots, the women, the fairies and the queens have each other for love, sex and inspiration. They have the natural world, music, the body, feelings, crannies of cities in which to be, believe, touch, dance, dream, fuck, and grow. This was the liberation vision of Larry Mitchell from another time, another consciousness. With this new edition of The Faggots and Their Friends we can remember the collectivity of fun and pleasure and the necessary faith of silly hope as part of our legacy and wish for survival.” - Sarah Schulman
First published in 1977 by Mitchell’s own Calamus Press, The Faggots has circulated in PDF form in recent years, shared across the Internet as both queer consolation and fuel for fighting. Nightboat Books has now brought it back into print with introductory essays by filmmaker Tourmaline and performer Morgan Bassichis. Not quite speculative fiction, not quite allegory, and not quite polemic, The Faggots surveys a dystopian empire called Ramrod in its twilight years, where state agents struggle to enforce heteropatriarchal discipline as their kingdom crumbles around them. - Sam Huber, the Nation
A gossamer, sex-driven fantasy – and/or manifesto – and/or survival guide – for the moral and mental uplift of radical queers. It’s our story of perseverance in the empire of Ramrod. Ruled by “rich men without color,” Ramrod is a falling, failing power known for its fierce weapons and elaborate violence. Fashion-wise, the rich men without color only wear grey but that’s OK; the faggots wear all the other colors. - Susie Bright