Reviews and Comments

i immediately became best friends with all of the characters. even the ones who kinda made me roll my eyes a little. everyone was so warm and vibrant and alive that i connected to all of them in some way almost immediately, and so, i really felt it when their stories were recounted. or when times got tough.

there was commentary on the welfare system in the 90s. there was some moralizing, and there were some shots at a system that seems determined to hurt and kill people. but, rather than get bogged down in frustration, the novel expresses this angst and frustration through occasional outbursts from lish. little bits of an insane response while living through insane circumstances of poverty and life on the dole. which is great, because it's hard not to become frustrated or even angry about how cruel and absurd being on welfare is. but the novel remains largely focused on the stories it tells, of lucy, of lish, and of the other women at half-a-life. and it mostly treats the hypocrisy and incongruity in the system with a quick joke for a cheap laugh. which contributes to the warmth in lucy's narrative.

it was also a loving tribute to poor single motherhood. to the joys and the hardships of surviving and taking care of your kids. the dedication of the mostly young mothers. the adversity they just kinda shrug off and live with to protect their kids, time after time after time. the stigma of being on welfare, and the consequences of that stigma in how men treat them. but also the joy in the little weird things kids do. grass tipping from dill's head and confusing him, as he leans down to pick more grass, to put more grass on his head. the little noises and quirks. lish's precocious kids absolutely loving to learn, loving school, and putting on little performances and playing games as they grow up.

this was a wonderful novel to get absorbed into and i'm very lucky that my girlfriend was sweet enough to lend it to me <3

i knew long before i read this that it would be important to me.

from a historical perspective, it shines a light on the realities of being a lesbian in the 60s and 70s. of being transmasculine and searching for terminology and self-understanding in a culture that didn't even marginally recognize gender outside the binary. or sexuality outside the hetero. it shines a light on surviving abusive parents. on finding community without the internet. of navigating complex queer subcultures. and hatred in its many forms, up to and including bar raids, arrests, and unspeakable abuses by cops.

it also illuminates and speaks to the beauty of love and friendship and comradeship within those queer communities. the intricacies in how butches and femmes and transfemmes interacted. i was able to see myself in the warmth and emotionality and fierce bravery in the face of fear and violence expressed by the femmes and that will stick with me forever.

the narrative also details the struggles of unions through economic upturns and downturns. the constant fight for unity against unsafe work conditions and dangerously low pay.

stone butch blues is a brilliant, intense work of art that carries the weight of history in its pages. it's important reading for anyone interested in queer history, queer present, and queer futures.