The Boys of Fairy Town: Sodomites, Female Impersonators, Third-Sexers, Pansies, Queers, and Sex Morons in Chicago's First Century (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781613739358)

A 2018 Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year Honorable Mention

Lambda Literary Award LGBTQ Nonfiction Finalist

A history of gay Chicago told through the stories of queer men who left a record of their sexual activities in the Second City, this book paints a vivid picture of the neighborhoods where they congregated while revealing their complex lives. Some, such as reporter John Wing, were public figures. Others, like Henry Gerber, who created the first "homophile" organization in the United States, were practically invisible to their contemporaries. But their stories are all riveting. Female impersonators and striptease artists Quincy de Lang and George Quinn were arrested and put on trial at the behest of a leader of Chicago's anti-"indecency" movement. African American ragtime pianist Tony Jackson's most famous song, "Pretty Baby," was written about one of his male lovers. Alfred Kinsey's explorations of the city's netherworld changed the future of American sexuality while confirming his own queer proclivities. What emerges from The Boys of Fairy Town is a complex portrait and a virtually unknown history of one of the most vibrant cities in the United States.

Author: Jim Elledge
ISBN-10: 1613739354
ISBN-13: 9781613739358
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Language: English
Published: 06/01/2018
Pages: 312
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.30lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.20w x 1.00d

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 05/01/2018 pg. 50