Thursday 13 July 2017

Good As You: From Prejudice to Pride by Paul Flynn




Paul Flynn's gallop through thirty years of gay (male) life in Britain is hugely entertaining. It's a largely personal account of social and cultural changes , beginning with his experiences growing up in 80s Manchester and ranging through various aspects of the subsequent decades of increasing, if still far from total, acceptance. Jimmy Somerville, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Clause 28, Chris Smith MP, Terrence Higgins, Colin and Barry on Eastenders, Peter Tatchell, Out on Tuesday, Kylie, Brian Dowling on Big Brother, Attitude magazine,  Justin Fashanu, Robbie Rogers, Elton John and David Furnish... all this and much more. Like Paul, I was an 80s kid in the Manchester area (though I'm a couple of years older) and there was a lot here I could relate to and some things I'd completely forgotten....

The book's subtitled "30 years of gay Britain"' but really it should be 30 years of gay men in Britain, because women are few and far between in these pages (Kylie notwithstanding) and lesbians are even fewer. For instance we get a fair bit on Eastenders' Colin and Barry but nothing at all on Brookside's equally significant Beth/Margaret kiss. That's understandable - the author is a gay man and writing about his own perspective and experiences. But the cover could make it clearer that the book is very much about the gay male experience rather than any other letters in the LGBTQIA alphabet soup.

I did enjoy Paul Flynn's style of writing, though there are a few odd turns of phrase and word choices. ("Having exempted himself from the admonishment of the closet...."). Then again - he's a successful journalist and I'm not.

All in all I found this a great read packed with observations, interviews and touching/thought-provoking anecdotes, which brought back many memories and provides further compelling evidence, should it be needed, that "gay" is indeed as "Good As You".

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