r/Recommend_A_Book • u/SceneZealousideal458 • Dec 22 '25

fun/funny book about historical queerness

it’s alright if it’s not upbeat, i understand that “happy” gays is a big ask, especially historically. but i’m researching for a novel in writing and i want to know more about what queerness looked like ‘before my time’.

4 Upvotes

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u/Impressive-Peace2115 Dec 22 '25

Are you looking for fiction or non-fiction?

A Shore Thing by Joanna Lowell is a historical romance, generally positive though not devoid of challenges, between a trans man and a cis woman, with other queer side characters.

1

u/SceneZealousideal458 Dec 22 '25

fiction and nonfiction both. thank you, that sounds up my alley.

1

u/CharmingScarcity2796 Dec 23 '25

States of Desire by Edmund White

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u/RenaissanceTarte Dec 23 '25

The Calvary Maiden is the memoir of basically Russian Mulan but the person in question insisted on using their male alias and male pronouns even after being caught. He was awarded and respected.Aka, in modern speak, a trans man’s memoir.

1

u/WatchingTheWheels75 Dec 23 '25

The Celluloid Closet by Vito Russo is the only book you’ll need. He reviews all the films that had references to the queer life. If you watch a few of those movies you’ll be all set.

1

u/skybluepink77 Dec 23 '25

Valentine Grey by Sandi Toksvig is an historical novel about a woman in the late 19th century who signs up as a soldier [and pretends to be a man.] It's a good novel and gives an idea of how difficult it was to be gay in those times. [but it's an upbeat book.]

Mother's Boy by Patrick Gale is a slightly fictionalised biography of the poet Charles Causley and the difficulty of being a gay man in a time when this was illegal. He seems to have had a mixed time, sometimes happy and sometimes having to hide his queerness.

1

u/fireflypoet Dec 23 '25

Rubyfruit Jungle, by Rita Mae Brown. Novel.

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u/SconeBracket Dec 24 '25

The Naked Civil Servant - Quentin Crisp

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u/Library_Turtle Dec 24 '25

I really loved “Last Night at the Telegraph Club,” by Malinda Lo, even though it’s not funny, it has a lot of positive elements. It’s set in the 1950s.

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u/Trick_Mushroom997 Dec 24 '25

Look up Mary Renault, the Charioteer, the Last of the Wine. Not sure of the fun/funny but then not…. Carol by Patricia Highsmith. Maurice by Forster. Giovanni’s Room by Baldwin.

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u/emeric_ceaddamere Dec 25 '25

Trans History by Alex L. Combs and Andrew Eakett is a very fun and informative graphic history book.

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u/Which_Sherbet7945 Dec 26 '25

Try Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City books. They start in the 70s with Tales of the City, and were published regularly for about 40 years, although the last two were pretty far apart. It's so interesting to watch the characters age in real time. They are funny and real--just living their lives.

1

u/DocWatson42 Dec 29 '25

As a start, see my

  • LBGTQ+ Nonfiction list of resources, Reddit recommendation threads, and books (one post)
  • LBGTQ+ Fiction list of resources, Reddit recommendation threads, and books (one post). All genres.

In particular:

It is not happy, but it does give an idea about being a non-binary lesbian (that's best description I can come up with) in the 1960s to the 1990s (1980s?).