A vibrant social history of the iconic bastion of queer culture and leisure.Inspired by the work of poet Frank O'Hara, a frequent visitor to Fire Island who was tragically killed in a freakish accident there in 1966, Parlett first ventured to the island in 2017 while furthering his doctoral research on American poetry and cruising. His experiences during this visit, as a curious researcher who was also actively engaged in the gay party scene, serve as the launching point for this uniquely insightful and colorful cultural history. Parlett traces the extraordinary literary heritage of the island, including its earliest foundation, laid by Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde; midcentury luminaries (W.H. Auden, Tennessee Williams, Carson McCullers, Patricia Highsmith) and their booze-fueled escapades; and later, the more serious, politically charged influence of James Baldwin, who drew much-needed attention to the narrow Whiteness of the community. The hedonistic, sex-and-drug–laden tenor of the 1970s and '80s, portrayed in novels by Edmund White, Andrew Holleran, and others, was ravaged by the onslaught of the AIDS epidemic, which had an indelible, long-lasting impact on the island's literary and artistic culture. "Along with the many artists and writers lost to AIDS," writes Parlett, "came the loss of an engaged and informed audience; the readership that kept gay publishing afloat, and the wider sense of a community consuming and critiquing the work of its own luminaries and emerging voices." Throughout the book, the author smoothly interweaves an enlightened perspective of the island's influence and importance with candid appraisals of its shortcomings, especially related to cultural homogenization and the overwhelming Whiteness that has continued into the 21st century. "Fire Island feels like a case study of utopian imperfections," writes Parlett, "of the way norms become entrenched and inequalities perpetuated in a place defined by the fact that it is not, simply, for everyone."An illuminating, well-written history of a unique place.

Literary theorist Parlett (The Poetics of Cruising) delivers an immersive history of Fire Island and the evolution of LGBTQ culture in 20th-century America. Documenting the island-s Native American origins; the emergence of Cherry Grove and its neighboring community, Fire Island Pines, as refuges for those seeking to evade -the scrutiny of mainland morality-; and their development as increasingly risqué and sexually permissive vacation destinations in the latter half of the 20th century, Parlett excels at portraying literary odd couples who helped shape the culture of Fire Island. These include -gay patron saints- Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde (though Parlett admits there is -no real evidence- Wilde visited the island), writers Frank O-Hara and James Baldwin, and novelists Carson McCullers and Patricia Highsmith, who were part of Fire Island-s -lesbian literati- in the 1950s and -60s. Parlett also does an admirable job illuminating how the Stonewall Riots, the emergence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, and other events affected the island-s gay community, though his attempts to weave in autobiographical reflections are somewhat less effective. Still, this is a rich and rewarding study of Fire Island-s vital role in LGBTQ history and culture. (June)