Book Review: Queer As All Get Out

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Queer As All Get Out

Written & Illustrated by Shelby Criswell
Street Noise Books, 2021
Age Level: 16-17 years




In my day, typed the old woman, we didn't have ready access to information about queer heroes and mentors. Their stories had been excised from the record. I judged the world accordingly, decided it was hostile to people like me, and remained closeted.

Books like Queer As All Get Out are exactly what I needed. Show me I'm not alone. Embolden me to be true to myself by knowing my queer heritage. Tell me I can have a career, a life, a love. Empower me.

Criswell here chronicles the lives of ten queer people who have inspired them. I knew, but only superficially, about four, so I came away better educated. For the record, my ignorance included:
  • Nancy Cardenas
  • Ifti Nasim
  • Mary Jones
  • Carlett Brown
  • Wilmer "Little Ax" Broadnax
  • Simon Nkoli
These thumbnails also served to explore the intersectionality of queer life. We get glimpses of Mexican, Pakistani, and Zuni culture. We visit early 20th century Arkansas, 18th century NYC, the Korean War, and South Africa during apartheid.

We meet professors and poets, sex workers and soldiers. Music is a recurring theme. We gain insight into how being queer interacts with the law, the military, religion, race, and class. 

I was reminded that heroes contribute; they're not celebrities or "personalities." Criswell's juxtaposition of Carlett Brown and Christine Jorgensen spoke especially well to this. I knew of the latter; the former is equally, if not more, compelling. When I was a kid, I needed to know that there were real people, in real jobs, like me.

The mini-bios are presented within a framework of autobiography. Criswell interrupts the narrative at times to refer the reader to resources in the appendices. It's impossible to discuss these issues without addressing difficult subject matter. Criswell is sensitive to the affect of violence and suicide on the reader, and treats the issues respectfully.

This is a book should be mandatory in both public and high school libraries.

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