Fire Island: a slim strip of land off the coast of New York, and a place of hedonism, reinvention, liberation.
Arriving on the island after a break-up back home in England, scholar and poet Jack Parlett was beguiled by what he found. Here were the halcyon scenes of Frank O’Hara’s poetry; the bars where Patricia Highsmith got drunk; the infamous cruising sites; and the dazzling beaches where couples had fallen in and out of love, free for a sun-kissed moment to be themselves in the time before gay liberation.
Tracing Fire Island’s rich history, Parlett leads the reader through the early days of the island’s life as a discreet home for same-sex love, to the wild parties of the post-Stonewall disco era, to the residents’ confrontation with the AIDS epidemic, and into a present where a host of new challenges threaten the island’s future.
Lyrical and vivid, Fire Island is a hymn to an iconic destination, and to the men and women whose ardour and determination spread freedom across its shores.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 272
Imprint: Granta Books
Publication date: 04/05/2023
Fire Island
by Jack Parlett
Review by Ray
Fire Island has a long history of being a safe holiday destination for queer people, especially writers and artists. This book tracks the century or so of life the island has seen with insight and heart. Author Jack Parlett’s own experiences of the island and of queer cultures are present here too, which makes this a kind of hybrid of memoir and history – and the book is all the richer for it. A fascinating read.
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