Queer Icons and Their Cats

 Book 10 of my 2021 Reading Challenge

Queer Icons and Their Cats

by Alison Nastasi and PJ Nastasi

Summary (excerpt from Goodreads)

published 2021

This book is a celebration of queer icons of the past and present and their furry feline friends. From images of lost legends such as Josephine Baker and James Baldwin, to snapshots of contemporary trailblazers like comedian Tig Notaro and fashion designer Jason Wu—these charming and eccentric photographs capture what it truly means to be a cat purr-son.

First Impressions/Judging a Book by Its Cover

The title and cover photo of Jujubee (a drag queen I recognize from RuPaul's Drag Race) made this an immediate grab for me when I saw it on NetGalley (disclaimer for receiving a free copy below).

Since I'm writing this before downloading it, my only concern is that books with pictures don't always translate well on e-readers.  That wouldn't be the book's fault and I would note that in my review but I really hope that's not the case because I'm really looking forward to this book.

My Opinion

4 stars

**I received an electronic copy of this book via NetGalley and would like to thank the author and/of publisher for the opportunity to read and honestly review it**

I enjoyed this book.  It's very clear what to expect so it's always a little tough to review...if the book looks interesting to you, you won't be disappointed because the authors do a good job with the concept and material.

There was an interesting statistic about pet ownership in LGBTQ households vs. straight households.  A 2007 survey found that 71% of LGBTQ households owned pets compared to 63% of straight households, and that LGBTQ are more likely to own cats (63% vs. 52%).  I don't want to draw too many conclusions from that stat alone but the theory that pets bring unconditional love and that's something that LGBTQ people may be less likely to receive from humans did make sense to me, unfortunately.

The pictures were good and clear with a mix of color and black/white.  The icons weren't all familiar to me, with a range from different ages and time periods, and the authors were respectful and gave lots of information about their accomplishments.  The 'queerness' may have been the reason for their inclusion in the book but it wasn't exploited or told in a salacious way.  The spin about the pets made it more than "Wikipedia" entries and it really showed the research by including quotes when possible.  I will note that most interviews and photos were not specifically for this book so I can't speak on if 'experts' would feel the same as I do about the information being new and unique but I think the tradeoff of being able to include such a wide range of people is worth it.

As a note since I mentioned it in my 'First Impressions', there were 2 mistakes with my copy that I'm not factoring into my rating but am noting.  The photo of Clifton Webb was missing/omitted and the information about Ossie Clark was unfinished (it still had editing notes in the text).