Book Review: Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution: An Oral History. Liam Warfield, Walter Crasshole, and Yony Leyser, eds. Oakland, CA: PM Press, 2021. 224p. Paper, $18.00 (ISBN 9781629637969).

Abstract

Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution: An Oral History tells the stories of queer punk, primarily in North America from 1969 to 1999, by constructing a narrative from the movement’s media (zines, records, and films), personalities, politics, and activism. The book is a snapshot of voices from many perspectives across this period of queer punk, and the imagery and voices are as graphic, explicit, and colorful as you might expect. Queercore springs from hours of interviews that were conducted originally for a film by the same name created by Leyser. The book’s editors used the remaining footage and dialogue to put together this work. The messy nature of history and punk are embodied by the oral history’s chorus of diverging voices. They come together in this volume to form a cohesive narrative covering several key themes: 1) defining queercore; 2) the history of queercore from 1969 to 1999; and 3) the media that made the movement. This book is of value to LIS workers on multiple fronts, particularly in the context it provides for archivists and librarians who specialize in alternative information resources and subcultures. Additionally, the book lays out a variety of activist and antifascist strategies for creating space for marginalized voices, something library workers at all levels ought to prioritize.