Read it for the Pictures

Stryker, Susan and Jim Van Buskirk. Gay by the Bay: A History of Queer Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area. Fwd by Armistead Maupin. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1995.

This book is both fascinating and disappointing. While it lacks thoroughness and depth, the history of queer culture in the Bay Area is a rich and compelling subject, and this attempt is certainly better than nothing. In fact, it's quite a good book. It's just short and non-academic. There are very few references or bibliographical information. Its approach to history seems to be focused mainly on a biographical overview of important people and political groups as representatives of movements, but the discussions of none of these people are particularly thorough. The book is a beautiful overview most valuable for its illustrations; there are wonderful images from the archives of the Gay and Lesbian Historical Society of Northern California and several personal collections. Posters, campaign advertisements, and personal photographs make this book far richer than merely its historiography. It is a stunning book on a fascinating subject and it achieves well its intentions to illustrate and commemorate Northern California queer culture. It is heavily skewed toward the late 20th century, packing about 100 years into the first half of the book and devoting the latter half to the 30 years from 1967 to 1990. In this latter half, Stryker and Van Buskirk devote a great deal of attention to celebrities and bars, suggesting an exercise in personal history and their own nostalgia as much as historical importance. Despite my academic objections, it's a wonderful, short, fun book and I do actually recommend it for anyone interested in local queer history.