{"product_id":"my-bad-a-personal-history-of-the-queer-nineties-and-beyond","title":"My Bad: A Personal History of the Queer Nineties and Beyond","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHugh Ryan is the award-winning author of \n\u003ci\u003eWhen Brooklyn Was Queer\u003c\/i\u003e (2019) and \n\u003ci\u003eThe Women's House of Detention\u003c\/i\u003e (2022). He teaches creative nonfiction in the MFA program at the Bennington Writing Seminars and runs the Queer History 101 Book Club with world-famous performer Peppermint. He lives in Brooklyn.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"In \n\u003ci\u003eMy Bad, \u003c\/i\u003e Hugh Ryan interweaves his knowledge of queer history with deeply personal and engaging storytelling, demonstrating how erasure and cruelty shaped not only the 90s but our collective sense of identity. As the LGBTQ+ community faces renewed threats and censorship spreads, this book is a powerful reminder of the enduring importance of preserving our history and sharing our stories.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eElliot Page, actor and author of Pageboy\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Historian Hugh Ryan turns his powerful investigative attention to the queer self as shaped by the Nineties. \n\u003ci\u003eMy Bad\u003c\/i\u003e is a fearless blend of memoir and history that treats mistakes as evidence: of desire, of survival, of how we got here. I saw my own life refracted through these pages, even as Ryan taught me to understand that history differently. Ryan joins the essential queer tradition of writers who turn memory, sex, and shame into a usable past.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eGarrad Conley, author of Boy Erased and All the World Beside\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\" \n\u003ci\u003eMy Bad\u003c\/i\u003e is a marvel of a book that twines a baby gay's joyful hedonism with a historian's breadth of vision. Hugh Ryan investigates the misadventures of his past selves with irresistible candor and enviable wit. It is a treat to follow Ryan as he rides the high highs and the low lows of the 90s and carves out his own, impossibly queer place in the world. And, by god, it's simply hilarious--one of the memoirs that made me laugh out loud and wonder, did that really happen to him? Of course it did, and the rest is history.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eSabrina Imbler, author of How Far the Light Reaches\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Hugh Ryan trains his historical eye on his personal life and reveals not only himself, but the journeys of so many queer Gen-X folks. A fascinating read!\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eJeff Hiller, Emmy Award winner and author of Actress of a Certain Age\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Hugh Ryan's \n\u003ci\u003eMy Bad\u003c\/i\u003e is so good, I never wanted it to end. Set against the cultural backdrop of the 90s, Ryan takes us from the AOL chat rooms where queers found each other at the brink of the new millennium, to reckoning with the AIDS crisis as life-saving medications entered the scene, and all the dancefloors, bedrooms, and Greyhounds where he came of age in between. More than just a time capsule, Ryan's stories are deeply personal and at turns heartbreaking and hilarious. This book is a gift for anyone who grew up feeling lost and hoping that somewhere out there, there were people waiting.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eEdgar Gomez, author of Alligator Tears and High-Risk Homosexual\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Bracing...A clear-eyed reckoning with a decade that promised freedom and delivered transformation, unevenly and at a price.\"\u003c\/p\u003e-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eKirkus\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"At a time when nostalgia for the '90s is seemingly everywhere, \u003ci\u003eMy Bad\u003c\/i\u003e places the decade into context ... with the intimate, funny rough language of your freakiest, funnest bestie.\"\u003c\/p\u003e-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eMichelle Tea, Los Angeles Times\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Blending his excellent historical writing with personal experience, Ryan's newest is a delicious, complex look at the decade we love to idealize.\"\u003c\/p\u003e-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003ethem\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tReading \n\u003ci\u003eMy Bad\u003c\/i\u003e was my blessing. With prose as rigorous and inviting as bell hooks's, Hugh Ryan is our generation's gay Howard Zinn, a people's historian of the queer nineties (and beyond). Melding a masterful synthesis of theory with a profound vulnerability, each of Ryan's essays in this memoir is a gift. \n\u003ci\u003eMy Bad\u003c\/i\u003e is both a guide for evaluating how we survived our homophobic youths and a map for how we decolonize \"the rest of the story.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eSteven Thrasher, author of The Viral Underclass and The Overseer Class\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eMy Bad\u003c\/i\u003e thus proves an entertaining and sharp-eyed personal history capturing a time where queer identity underwent transformative social change.\"\u003c\/p\u003e-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Observer\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"How did any of us survive the 90s? \n\u003ci\u003eIn My Bad\u003c\/i\u003e, Hugh Ryan shows us how he made it out, with writing so intimate and honest and punched-up, reading it is like cutting class with the coolest weirdo in school, becoming instant best friends as your tough complaints give way to tenderness and heart. Deeply inspiring and a joy to read.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eMichelle Tea, author of Valencia\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Hugh Ryan -- as a queer historian and storyteller -- knows that we're living in the present our past made possible, for better and worse. If we want a future, Ryan reminds us, we must realize that our ghosts aren't ghosts; they're a present that we must confront with what we've learned along the way.\"\u003c\/p\u003e-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eSaeed Jones, author of How We Fight for Our Lives\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A fantastic nostalgic glimpse at a bygone era that continues to inspire the present and the future.\"\u003c\/p\u003e-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eBay Area Reporter\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Ryan's book comes with a healthy dose of nostalgia, but instead of romanticizing the decade, he offers a more grounded, realistic look at the last days of analog youth.\"\u003c\/p\u003e-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e1 Minute Critic\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eA powerful and hilarious personal history that tells the true story of the queer '90s and how it transformed queer life in the decades that followed.\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\"Deeply personal and engaging... A powerful reminder of the enduring importance of preserving our history and sharing our stories.\" -- Elliot Page, actor and \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003ePageboy\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The 1990s were a decade of transformation. Globalization reshaped geopolitics, and the rise of the World Wide Web revolutionized technology forever. As society shifted from the analog to the digital at the turn of the century, LGBTQ life changed profoundly. Increased visibility arrived, but at a heavy cost. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In his most personal book yet, historian Hugh Ryan guides us through a pivotal decade for queer people and its aftershocks--from new breakthroughs in activism, to the early days of AOL chat rooms, and the eventual backlash to progress. Through the prism of his own experiences, Ryan maps how queer life transitioned from private to public in the late '90s and early aughts, reshaping the challenges and possibilities LGBTQ people navigated in the new millennium. On a Greyhound bus headed to Burning Man and the glittery dance floors of clubs in Manhattan and Berlin, a timeless and all-too-common story emerges: how a young queer person chooses silence to protect himself--only to spend another beautiful, complicated decade undoing his shame. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Funny, stylish, and deliciously nostalgic, \n\u003ci\u003eMy Bad \u003c\/i\u003ereckons with the gains and setbacks of a decade that reshaped queer life forever.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e 03\/01\/2026 (EAN 9781645030577, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/span\u003e 04\/01\/2026 pg. 76 (EAN 9781645030577, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Bold Type Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496034599190,"sku":"9781645030577","price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9781645030577.jpg?v=1783051268","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/my-bad-a-personal-history-of-the-queer-nineties-and-beyond","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}