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161st out of 608 books
—
540 voters
Rat Bohemia
“More persuasively than any other contemporary novelist, Sarah Schulman traces the ways in which the disenfranchisement that begins as a political evil pervades every aspect of life, from the metaphysical and spiritual to the most intimate moments of two people together.”—Tony Kushner
“My surrender to Rat Bohemia is a testimonial to its gimlet-eyed accuracy, its zero-degree
...moreHardcover, 240 pages
Published
October 1st 1995
by Dutton Books
(first published 1995)
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I'm so glad this is back in print I'm been trying to find this forever. My least favourite part is the back and forth section between Killer and Troy, but the rest was almost perfect. the Introductiono alone is worth getting the book.
It's been a week since I read Rat Bohemia, but I keep bringing it up in conversations, which is rare. When I go on reading sprees, I might read three books a week without ever talking about them with anyone. So Rat Bohemia is highly recommended.
In a classic gay narrative, Rat Bohemia's characters are abandoned by their families (even when an infamous epidemic is wiping them off of the map forever) but create their own instead, sticking by one another through the good times and the bad. The persp...more
In a classic gay narrative, Rat Bohemia's characters are abandoned by their families (even when an infamous epidemic is wiping them off of the map forever) but create their own instead, sticking by one another through the good times and the bad. The persp...more
Meh. I picked this up from the library because I saw it mentioned here and I liked the title. Why do people think the writing is so amazing? It reads as if someone jotted it down in a notebook right out of their head, and maybe the author tried *really hard* to make it read that way. Seems like a wasted effort if that's the case.
I'm from Manhattan, born and raised. Perhaps it's an exotic plot point if you think the city is exotic.
If it had been written by an insightful teenager, then I think I...more
I'm from Manhattan, born and raised. Perhaps it's an exotic plot point if you think the city is exotic.
If it had been written by an insightful teenager, then I think I...more
I just happened to page through the beginning of this book and found that it was actually autographed by Schulman and a note had been written to Kate Bornstein of all people. How awesome!
As for the book itself, as always, Schulman's superb prose and her careful and insightful observations about life were amazing. Especially since she never relents when it comes to holding straight people accountable for the horrible things they can do to queers.
However, I did not really dig the changing point o...more
As for the book itself, as always, Schulman's superb prose and her careful and insightful observations about life were amazing. Especially since she never relents when it comes to holding straight people accountable for the horrible things they can do to queers.
However, I did not really dig the changing point o...more
This was my first Sarah Schulman novel -- I know, as a queer person I really should have read her a loooooonnnnnggggg time ago, but better late than never. I appreciated the structure of Rat Bohemia and the characters were ones with which I could identify and empathize. There were so many haunting passages in this book that when I read them it felt too close to real for myself and my experiences as a queer person in this world. The parallel between AIDS and rats throughout this book is a well-ex...more
Every time I read a schulman book I swear never again. I always spend the first 2/3rds being astounded by the exquisiteness of the writing, the intelligence of how she puts words together, leaves moments hanging in micro chapters that invite reflection as you jump into the next one.Then, somewhere near the end, I realize the book stands as an encyclopedia of everything that is heartbreaking about being queer and then become very depressed. But of course it's good to have these things illuminated...more
You know how it is. Some people, you call them and they never call you back. Even if they've known you for a long time. I'd like to call those people up and say, Listen Mack, if you ever call me I will call you right away. If I call you, I want you to call me back. Don't snub me or I'll kill you. Don't snub me. Of course you can't go around saying I'll kill you to people or they'll never call you back. Plus, they'll tell other people you said that and then the others won't call either. The murde...more
There's no plot to this. It's basically character sketches of 3 gay people in New York in the 80s & 90s, each section told from the point of view of a particular character. The book is divided into 5 parts:
* Rita (a lesbian) - this section shows Rita suffering from New York angst
* David (a gay man) - David is dying from AIDS and talks some about his family and being angry about AIDS. This was actually pretty decent. In general I liked the David parts best of all.
* Killer (a lesbian) and h...more
* Rita (a lesbian) - this section shows Rita suffering from New York angst
* David (a gay man) - David is dying from AIDS and talks some about his family and being angry about AIDS. This was actually pretty decent. In general I liked the David parts best of all.
* Killer (a lesbian) and h...more
I'm in the mood for an extended metaphor, and the best way I can think to describe this book is a small town fire works show. You're waiting for a bit, sure it's going to be good, wondering when it will start... only when it's dark enough. The first 'work comes from nowhere, startling you with its bright light. The bursts continue, in no discernible order, each one beautiful and slightly different. There are some repeats. There are standouts: the sparkly shimmery one that last for minutes, the f...more
I'm sorry this keeps getting grouped as Gay/Lesbian lit. It is, but that makes it sound like it doesn't have anything to offer anyone else. It does. It's a sharp, extremely tragic look at a vast part of New York killed off by AIDS and AIDS-related gentrification. The author makes the grotesque but accurate observation that the sudden deaths of 75,000 New Yorkers had a rapid, probably permanent effect on their neighborhoods and the character of the city. Not just for gays, but for everyone under...more
Schulman follows several gay characters living among the rats in 1990s Lower East Side, New York. Call it Rent without the happy music. Subtext running through book is the heartbreak of parental rejection of their gay children. Beautiful, sometimes graphic writing. Rats are metaphor for how rejected gay kids live in the shadows while parents pretend they don't exist. Parents live on the rage of shattered dreams when their children "chose" to be gay.
The book is about one hundred 2-3 page "chapters" from the POV of various characters living in New York in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Primary concerns here are AIDS, death, sickness, filth, rats, decay, emotional confusion, youth, outre culture . . . I think. I can't be sure, because I found the book almost unreadable. Its value as a cultural artifact does not redeem its uninspiring, boring writing.
This is a really sad book focusing on three friends, two lesbians and a gay man, in New York City in the early 90s when all their gay male friends (and the main gay male character) are dying of AIDS. The characters themselves were kind of annoying in that all three viewpoint characters basically had the same voice and thought process, but I'm glad I read it nonetheless. I'm so far removed from that part of history, even though it had such a huge impact on where things are in the queer world toda...more
Writing in the 'raw' but in a good way! Reveals a side of New York not seen by the mainstream literary presses.
Evokes a time, place and group of people really well. First quarter is the best.
What I learned from this book? Everything.
read
An unflinching yet lyrical look at the back street queer inhabitants of NYC during AIDS crisis and at the same time an engrossingly poignant study of human relationships.
I read this the same time I re-watched "Angels in America" (my favorite play.) They both are about young working gay people in NY in the 80s with AIDS problems, drug problems, money problems, relationships problems. "Rat Bohemia" is from the point of you of a lesbian though who works for the NYC Rat Control.
3 friends in the NYC gay community in the middle of the AIDS crisis. Surprisingly this book makes a powerful statement on the meaning of family and who becomes it when your own family abandons you. This book made me laugh and cry from one line to the next. It is most excellent.
Oh Sarah Schulman, you live in the East Village,
with the rats, and your moles. Your writing, among the
bad lesbian fiction, is the best.
Wont you take me for pierogis at Veselka once again?
with the rats, and your moles. Your writing, among the
bad lesbian fiction, is the best.
Wont you take me for pierogis at Veselka once again?
Squandered potential. I think the writer has talent and an eye for detail, but she seemed to have skipped right on over the story and created a book of character backgrounds. So, overall... ugh.
why was i in the dark about sarah schulman for so long?!? she's fucking brilliant! everything i ever wanted in a book is present in this one, and that's all i really have to say about that.
the chapters and sections of this book were very hit or miss. not really a bad read, but i found myself skipping ahead occasionally. and the sad part is is that i never really missed much.
whoa. I just re-read this book and it's amazing. I wasn't ready to appreciate it the first time, because there's so much searing grief in there about the families of queers.
I think I just don't really get Sarah Schulman? I appreciate her politics and everything, but I can't get into her novels at all. Her prose can be so awkward.
I could swear I've read this before, but I don't own a copy. Perhaps I'm remembering from the book reading I saw in 1995? That's pretty promising, if so.
The only book ever that has followed a 'vermin exterminator' that delves into family, community, identity, and pain. Really an amazing read.
Good slice of life look at three gay characters in rat-infested New York. Imaginative ending.
Schulman at the top of her game.
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Sarah Schulman is a longtime AIDS and queer activist, and a cofounder of the MIX Festival and the ACT UP Oral History Project. She is a playwright and the author of seventeen books, including the novels The Mere Future, Shimmer, Rat Bohemia, After Delores, and People in Trouble, as well as nonfiction works such as The Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination, My American History:...more
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“Straight people are the most pathetic of all. I’ve never seen such a miserable group of people in my life. They don’t know anything about themselves”
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Mar 29, 2012 07:36pm