Honestly I don’t have an interest in reading this book anymore and I want to be more selective with what I request.

I have to give this one up. Not because it's a bad book or because I don't like the topic because it is well-written and obviously I'm interested in material she discusses otherwise I wouldn't have asked for an ARC.
Gieseking analyses how queer spaces, particularly women and afab related queer spaces (including with intersections to disability, poverty, BIPOC and other marginalised communities/identities), existist within New York. Gieseking defines these queer spaces not as a physical place, which they can be, but as "constellations". As a marginalised community, queer spaces are also continuously under threat, particularly due to poverty, with white gay men being the safest group within the queer community, as they find a certain acceptance and enjoy financial privileges due to their whiteness and gender that other queer people don't have.
By using interviews, historical documents and other data, the author recreates a complex and ever-shifting history of queer spaces in New York that is marked by constant change, adaptation and appropriation. Longevity is difficult in urban space, but particularly so for marginalised communities, with people being pushed out of their neighbourhoods through gentrification.

I love the idea of the book: a mapping of queer spaces, geographies and constellations, much of which now only exists as memories and documents, not as physical spaces. Gieseking is very aware of their privileged position and self-reflects on the privileges they have and how their perspective influences how the interviews and data shape the book. That is of course standard for feminist and queer research and I wished more academics would be this aware of their own bias and privileges when writing their books.
Unfortunately, I'm a quarter of the way through the book and it hasn't properly started yet. So far, Gieseking has repeated the topic of the books several times, explaing what they are going to do with what material and what outcome they expect. This information is given over and over again with little variation. I'm still waiting for the book to finally start and the anticipation is exhausting because I've been reading the same false starts numerous times by now.

It is taking the book too long to get to the actual content of the book and I'm tired of waiting. A part of it is also that I have so many things going on in my life - work, PhD, still looking for a permanent job, waiting for a grant decision, my depression, etc. - that I just do not have the energy to be reading the same content over and over again and hoping the book finally starts, this time for real.

The book definitely needed some stronger editing, especially when you see how many pages it has. The repetitions aren't necessary and it feels like Gieseking was insecure about the research and was trying to convince us six times that this book is truly necessary. I understand that urge, as it usually stems from a traumatic experience within the academic field, but I'm on board with the book. I think if the writing was tighter and less repetitive, I would've been finished by now because I truly like the work Gieseking did here. I just don't have the gumption to continue anymore and I'm very sorry for that.

I hope the finished product has has some editing done and I would still recommend the book. I put this book on hold not because it's bad, but because I don't have any more patience left.

This is a fantastic slice of queer history. It was fascinating to read about areas in New York I didn't even know existed, to learn the ways they came to be and to hear about the lives of the New Yorkers who made them.

The author is clearly passionate about queer history and queer spaces - and their research into the topic is shared in an engaging and accessible way to both those unfamiliar with the city or unfamiliar with queer history, (or even both.)

The inclusion of a variety of supporting images (especially maps) made the text easier to understand, reading it as someone who only visited New York once in their life.

Finally, I think this books crowning achievement is its focus on LESBIAN queer history and spaces. So much LGBT+ Writing focuses on the lives and spaces of queer men, it made.a refreshing change to read about queer women.

Bravo! A totally fantastic study.

I had diffrent expectations of this book. That's totally my bad and I cannot blame the book for it. The book did a great job in doing exactly what it claimed it would do: providing geographical information about a queer New York. I simply wasn't expecting it to be that geographical.
Not the book's blame, simply my own. Nontheless, it was an informative read and I especially fell in love with the cover.


I received a free copy by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

While I truly admire the huge amount of time the author put into research for this book, I did not like it.
I picked it up, because I wanted to read the interviews, not the author explaining her interpretation of the interviews and the things said, most of the time.
I love reading about queer history, but this book just, ugh, boring! Took me forever to read.

I wish this had been more narrative based, as opposed to simply facts. Had this had a more narrative structure and read like a story, I think I would have enjoyed this more.

I love New York. Every time I visit I feel like I’m at home, even though I’m general I’m really not a city person. I’ve not managed to visit since I came out so when I saw this book was being released I was really looking forward to it. I was hoping it would be a chance to immerse myself in the experiences and places of queer New Yorkers. Unfortunately it just isn’t what I was hoping for.

It’s a clearly well researched book, but I couldn’t get into the style and structure of the text. I’m used to academic works, but I was hopeful this would be so much more accessible. I found it difficult at times to establish whether I was reading the lived voices or the research and felt a different structure to the book would make this so much more enjoyable. Like many others I’d have loved more full interviews and the opportunity to feel more lived experiences to break up the research.

I’m glad the work is out there and admire all the research done to put this together, I just wish I’d enjoyed it more.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I appreciate the work that Gieseking put into this study. I don't think I expected it to be as dense as it was but I agree with other reviewers who pointed out that the lack of interviewees voices hindered the book a bit. I think I would have enjoyed this more if it was a compilation of interviews with the analysis and study in between.

A Queer New York by Jen Jack Gieseking is an exploration of lesbian/queer spaces in New York and how they inform the lives of the people who navigate between them. Using the idea of "constellations" of locations and focusing primarily on information gleaned from in-person interviews as data points, Gieseking takes us through New York from the '80s to 2008 for lesbian and queer people.

Affected by forces like legislation, gentrification, and just the simple fact of time, these places in New York have changed or gone away entirely. I found this book to be an interesting discussion of what "queer spaces" really are and how they come to be (and come to pass).

While this book is undoubtedly academic and relatively dry, I liked a lot of Gieseking's points here, especially about how cruising and U-Hauling are stereotypical and yet have their roots in queer culture for a reason. I appreciated the discussion of race and gentrification on how these places change over time, though as a white reader, I'm not the person to ask about how those topics are handled. I'm interested to see what lesbians and queer people of color have to say in that regard.

I struggled at times because it felt almost repetitious, and I would've liked for this book to be more of an oral history. At times I wanted to just read full transcripts of the group interviews, rather than the occasional pull quote with supporting text from the author.

I appreciate what this book is doing in documenting queer culture, and I'm glad it exists. I'm glad I received a copy from NetGalley and NYU Press in exchange for an honest review.

A brilliantly presented writing about status of queer community in Newyork. I found this very much informative for its my first non fiction read about queer groups. It shows how these people were/are segregated because of gender. It is also a saga of their survival in the 20th century.

The premise of this book is that queer spaces don't have to be relegated to physically owned buildings because that leaves out many people who can't afford to live in/own/rent property in specific places, mixed with a desire to shine light on the afab (assigned female at birth) experience, as many histories and indeed much of gay life focuses on cis, white gay men.

I have to admit, this book really wasn't for me. It should be. I'm an afab trans person, I love reading books about the queer histories of places and last year I curated an exhibit for a gay library on lesbian-feminism in our city. Our cut off date was in the 80s where this book really began, so I thought I would be able to learn a lot about how women and queer people navigated spaces and the changes that have occurred since. And I did! There's a lot of good material in this book, but I feel like it was really drowned out by the author. Especially when the premise was to explore spaces not relegated to addresses or neighborhoods, but the people interviewed clearly define a lot of their experiences in gay neighborhoods with places like bars and community centers.

The author did a lot of research and much of that background information is good to know, but I feel the message would have gotten across much more powerfully if she had let the interviews she did with people who lived the life speak for themselves with much less speculation/interpretation from her. I was usually either rolling my eyes at the nonsensical, long-winded writing so beloved in academia or skimming to get ahead to another quote from an interview session. Maybe this just isn't for me. As I say, there's really good stuff in here, but I just don't have the temperament to read this kind of writing.

I had difficulties getting through this because it read more as an academic evaluation of the interview data than a telling of history. I would have much preferred reading the actual interviews, or having the author tell individuals' stories. I felt though the author's intent and the data itself is historically important-- the formatting of it didn't connect. Which, is ironic since the focus seemed to be the geographic stars creating constellations of queer life in New York.

It was already a given that gentrification and urban development force groups to relocate and alter their lifestyles. I wanted more of what those past 'stars' meant to those interviewed and how it shaped their lives. The social science approach, used by the author, (to the data) left a void in my connectivity to the book as a whole. I think the whole thing could be reworked and be a dynamic tool, both for historic understanding and reader comprehension.

I also felt, with the differences (between the interviewees) and the changes in gender identities (both self and societal) each life, gender, race has a different experience, view, understanding-- that all felt lumped together here. I wanted more clarity.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve never been to NYC but it is high on my list to visit, this book has only underlined this listing on my travel bucket list.

It’s not all roses and sunshine what the author writes about/ did research on, it does make me feel like New York is a good place to visit. I wouldn’t want to live there, but to each their own.

I found this to be very informative, but a bit too theoretical in some places.

I cannot wait to go back to New York after reading an advanced copy of this.

Having visited Greenwich Village and areas like Crown Heights I will now look at them with fresh eyes.

This is an exceptional book and well written.

This book is a rare treasure, filling the gap during which I was meant to be visiting New York with an entirely new geography to visit when the pandemic allows me to go back. It is immensely rare to find books on queer spaces that focus on lesbians and trans or gender non-conforming people, as often these groups stay below the radar, blending in. This book traces the invisible constellations of female and trans queer spaces and the lives lived within them through collected recollections of nearly fifty people. It's dense but readable, fascinating, and the perfect filler for a long-existing gap. It's helped me to see a new side of Nee York, one I can't wait to explore.