Fire Island: A Century in the Life of an American Paradise

Books

*A Town and Country Must-Read Book of Summer?* *A BUZZFEED BEST BOOK OF JUNE* *A Washington Post "Book to Read This Summer"* *AN ADVOCATE BEST LGBTQ+ BOOK OF 2022* *A USA Today "Book to Celebrate Pride Month"* *A New York Times "Editor's Pick"* *A Kirkus Reviews Hottest Book of Summer* A groundbreaking account of New York's Fire Island, chronicling its influence on art, literature, culture and queer liberation over the past century Fire Island, a thin strip of beach off the Long Island coast, has long been a vital space in the queer history of America. Both utopian and exclusionary, healing and destructive, the island is a locus of contradictions, all of which coalesce against a stunning ocean backdrop. Now, poet and scholar Jack Parlett tells the story of this iconic destination-its history, its meaning and its cultural significance-told through the lens of the artists and creators who sought refuge on its shores. Together, figures as divergent as Walt Whitman, Oscar Wilde, James Baldwin, Carson ...