The best LGBTQ books to read this autumn
Curl up with the best queer literary releases and a classic read.
The nights are drawing in, which means there’s no better time to get your head buried in a good book or three.
As autumn draws in, we’ve rounded up the best new LGBTQ reads to get stuck into – as well as one queer literary classic it’s well worth revisiting. Check out our picks below…
A Visible Man – Edward Enninful (Bloomsbury)
The memoir from Edward Enninful OBE, the ground- breaking, new-generation editor-in-chief of British Vogue is open-hearted and arrestingly detailed. Written to inspire others to dream big, work hard and draw strength from their own individuality, A Visible Man is the captivating story of how a shy young boy from Ghana conquered and redefined the exclusive realm of fashion.
The book opens with Edward recalling his early childhood home on a military base in Ghana’s capital Accra which overlooked the firing squads where enemies of the state would be executed while he played with his young siblings. It was observing his mother’s dressmaking business that led to him falling in love with tailoring and the art of dressing women. Then, in the 80s, Edward and his family arrived in London as asylum seekers, and were crammed into a small flat in Vauxhall, the floor space filled with mattresses.
Recalling his life as a newcomer, he looks back on discovering the treasures and prejudices of British culture and that fateful day when, as a teenager, he drew the attention of a model scout on the Tube.
Another pivotal moment came when he was appointed the fashion director of i-D magazine at the tender age of 18. In this account, Edward’s boundless passion for the artistry and alchemy of style radiates off the page. He’s also very frank about his battles with drink, weight and health, relationships and his experience as a Black man in a very white industry. Also covered are his relationships with the likes of Naomi, Kate, Rihanna, Grace Coddington and the late, great Alexander McQueen. Energetic, considered and beautifully fashioned. Out now.
Less Is Lost – Andrew Sean Greer (Little, Brown)
The follow-up to the joyously charming Pulitzer Prize- winning 2018 novel Less heralds the return of Arthur Less in all his awkward, haphazard and lovable glory. In Less Is Lost, life for Less is going pretty well: he is a moderately accomplished novelist in a steady relationship with his partner, Freddy Pelu. But rest assured, calamity is never far away. The death of an old lover deposits Less into a sudden financial crisis, spurring him to frantically accept a series of literary gigs that take him on a road trip deep into the often-surreal heart of America
Juddering across the ‘Mild Mild West’ in a rusty camper van nicknamed Rosina, accompanied by a black pug called Dolly, he presses on through the curious South, battling heartache and hurricanes to reach his mid-Atlantic birthplace. Shimmering with wit, a passion for language and astonishing insight, Less Is Lost revels in its affection for the absurdity of life. Smart, and profoundly uplifting. A joy! Out now.
The Boy Who Sat by the Window: The Story of the Queen of Soho – David Hodge (Mardle Books)
The memoir by former queen of drag queens, the very Miss Dusty O. This is the story of David Hodge’s complicated childhood; his alcoholic father, formidable mother, and the teachers that tormented him. He tells of finding a logical family of outcasts and innovators, icons like Pete Burns and Boy George, who eventually he’d count as friends.
Above all, it’s a history of 80s and 90s alternative clubland culture, with Hodge writing about DJing, dating and designer clothes — as well as the darker side, of drink and drugs. He also tells of his struggle to keep himself at the top of the drag game, with all those thirsty young bitches snapping at his designer heels. He describes feeling like the busiest boy in town — and the loneliest. It’s a tale of excess and of redefining what success means to you as well as discussing self-help, friendship, creativity and the riches to be discovered when you take the path less travelled. Hilarious, entertaining and candid. Out now
A Thirsty Evil – Gore Vidal (Abacus, first published 1956)
Literature fans may already be familiar with the name of the great American polymath and political thinker, Gore Vidal. Most will have heard of his seminal queer work, The City and the Pillar (1948), as well as his brilliant satire, Myra Breckinridge (1968), but we are perhaps less well acquainted with the seductively entitled A Thirsty Evil.
This book contains seven short stories, each a work of subtle, unsettling, masterful prowess, with three of them exploring explicitly gay themes. ‘Three Stratagems‘ explores an encounter from two perspectives — that of a gay gigolo on the prowl for rich, older, impressionable prey, and then through the eyes of his elderly, widowed target, George Royal. ‘The Zenner Trophy‘ is a delightfully understated tale set in the aftermath of homosexual scandal after two 18-year-old students are caught doing something unspeakable in their school dorm. The near total absence of shame is remarkable in a story from this era. However — trigger warning — the third, ‘Pages From an Abandoned Journal‘ features a scene of a paedophile in the company of a 14-year-old boy.
Vidal, with his appetite for contentious themes, is a master of the short story. The way he takes the reader only so far, letting them work out the rest for themselves, makes reading him especially rewarding. He’s a total genius. Discover him if you dare.