The Selected Diaries of Lou Sullivan
paperback, 440 pages
Published Sept. 24, 2019 by Nightboat Books.
Drawn from Lou Sullivan’s meticulously kept journals, this landmark book records the life of arguably the first publicly gay trans man to medically transition.
We Both Laughed In Pleasure: The Selected Diaries of Lou Sullivan narrates the inner life of a gay trans man moving through the shifting social, political, and medical mores of the second half of the 20th century. Sullivan kept comprehensive journals from age eleven until his AIDS-related death at thirty-nine. Sensual, lascivious, challenging, quotidian and poetic, the diaries complicate and disrupt normative trans narratives. Entries from twenty-four diaries reveal Sullivan’s self-articulation and the complexity of a fascinating and courageous figure.
"Sensual, lascivious, challenging, quotidian and poetic, the diaries complicate and disrupt normative trans narratives."
They really do. This was a deeply touching read. The editors have done an excellent job selecting passages and giving just the right amount of context. This book changed me.
