![]() He addresses some of the turning points in the LGBT movement, including the Stonewall Riots, the coming out of major celebrities, the AIDS crisis, the declassification of homosexuality as a mental illness, and the passage of marriage equality. By contrast, the Up Stairs Lounge Fire was willfully forgotten, "hushed by a nation not ready to look."Īn introduction follows, in which Fieseler muses on what it means to remember, particularly when it comes to the changing tide of public opinion on LGBT issues. The Pulse Massacre was remembered with memorials and flags flown at half-mast. But he also addresses the differences between the two mass killings, especially in the public response to each tragedy. ![]() In a preface, Fieseler discusses the similarities between the Pulse Massacre and the Up Stairs Lounge Fire, both watershed events that targeted LGBT people for no other reason than that they were LGBT. From the bar patrons in attendance on that fateful night to the business owners, journalists, and hustlers of the French Quarter, from New Orleans city and community leaders to the family members of those who died, the size of this dramatis personæ illustrates the epic scale of the tragedy and its still-reverberating effects on a community and a nation. The book opens with a listing of all the people involved in the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and its aftermath. In 2019, Tinderbox won the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime. ![]() But, as Fieseler points out, the tragedy only continued after the flames were out, with family members of the deceased, the city of New Orleans, the Catholic Church, and the larger world virtually ignoring what transpired. Until the Pulse Massacre of 2016, the fire at the Up Stairs Lounge was the largest mass murder of LGBT people. ![]() In 1973, an arsonist burnt down a gay bar in the New Orleans French Quarter and killed 31 men and one woman. Fieseler investigates a defining but little-known event in LGBT history and the impact it had on the burgeoning gay rights movement. Simon Sweetman, music critic and Robbie Williams agitator – and an ex-Borders Manager – interviewed me for his Off The Tracks podcast.In Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation, award-winning journalist Robert W. Librarian Alyson has written a lovely blog post on Tinderbox here In Metro magazine’s March/April 2018 issue there is glowing print review by Susanna Andrew, where she calls me “a comic genius.” Phillip Matthews reviewed Tinderbox on Stuff. In the New Zealand Listener (March 19, 2018) Catherine Robertson gave Tinderbox a great review, calling the tone of the book, “Lucky Jim-esque.” Marcus Hobson gave Tinderbox a great review over on NZBooklovers. This wonderful Bookseller, Liv, from Waterstones Exeter gave Tinderbox a really thorough and glowing review for Waterstones Youtube channel. Who am I to argue? Find the list here.Īuthor James Cook wrote this Smokin’ review of Tinderbox for Review 31 The Spinoff voted Tinderbox one of their best 20 non-fiction reads of 2018. Nice to see Tinderbox still burning despite being out of print… In Dec 2021 I found this lovely blog by Annabookbel that discusses Tinderbox and then Bradbury’s F451. But in case you needed added incentive you can also hear the writers Erik Kennedy, Chris Tse and Annaleese Jochems in this session. Apparently, I am actually good at reading from my own work. This is a podcast of a session I was in called You write funny! from Word Christchurch Festival in August 2018. More than that, it’s about how every one of us fits into that bigger picture – and the struggle to make sense of life in the twenty-first century. Galley Beggar says: Riffing on Ray Bradbury’s classic novel about the end of reading, Tinderbox is one of the most interesting books in decades about literary culture and its place in the world. It is also about Jeff intellectual, Bezos freedom, and Piggle Iggle – not in order but that necessarily. It is also about Ray Bradbury, censorship and the end of the world – but not necessarily in that order. It is about the end of the Borders book chain, Julie Christie and me – but not necessarily in that order. My first book Tinderbox has been published by Galley Beggar Press, UK.
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