November 2021

This month's Pride Among the Pines Book Club pick is Eric Cervini's The Deviant's War. We will be meeting on Friday, November 12th at 7:30 pm in an online video chat! You can RSVP and get the link here.

Eric Cervini is an award-winning historian of LGBTQ+ culture and politics. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College and received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Cambridge, where he was a Gates Scholar. The Deviant’s War is his first book. You can find him online @ericcervini.

So, what's the book about?

In 1957, Frank Kameny, a rising astronomer working for the U.S. Defense Department in Hawaii, received a summons to report immediately to Washington, D.C. The Pentagon had reason to believe he was a homosexual, and after a series of humiliating interviews, Kameny, like countless gay men and women before him, was promptly dismissed from his government job. Unlike many others, though, Kameny fought back.

Based on firsthand accounts, recently declassified FBI records, and forty thousand personal documents, Eric Cervini's The Deviant's War unfolds over the course of the 1960s, as the Mattachine Society of Washington, the group Kameny founded, became the first organization to protest the systematic persecution of gay federal employees. It traces the forgotten ties that bound gay rights to the Black Freedom Movement, the New Left, lesbian activism, and trans resistance. Above all, it is a story of America (and Washington) at a cultural and sexual crossroads; of shocking, byzantine public battles with Congress; of FBI informants; murder; betrayal; sex; love; and ultimately victory.

via GIPHY

​If this sounds like something you would like to read, you can get your copy of the book from the store for 15% off when you order with us: online, over the phone (828.386.1219), or via email. If you're looking for an audiobook, our partners at Libro.fm have it available for easy access on our affiliate website. You can get it here. You can also get it in e-book format, as well! We have a new e-book partner called My Must Reads & you can buy the e-book here.

We are open to the public (Mon-Sat from 11am-7pm) so you can pickup orders at the register. However, you can also pickup your book using our pickup basket at the front door or the drive thru window anytime Mon-Sat from 9am-7pm. We offer free media mail shipping for orders $30+ & local delivery if you're within Boone town limits. Getting your book to you as conveniently as possible is important to us! Please let us know how we can help you get your copy of our book club book this month!

Finally, you can RSVP on the Facebook event to get reminders & updates about any changes. This is also where the link to the event will be. Do that here! We encourage you to leave comments to let us know what you think of the book we've chosen each month or to make suggestions for future titles!
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Reviews & Interviews

The Brilliant Astronomer Who Devised New Tactics to Fight Anti-Gay Bias - NYT
Book Review: The Deviant's War - Frontiers in Sociology
​An Interview with Eric Cervini - Central Arkansas Library System
Eric Cervini on Celebrating 50 Years of LGBTQ Pride - Library of Congress

We hope to see you online for this month's meeting of Pride Among the Pines on November 12th at 7:30 pm! Happy Queer History Month!