Description
Gay Man’s Worst Friend – the Story of Destroyer Magazine by Karl Andersson.
- Published in March 2011.
- Limited first edition of 500 copies (there is no second edition).
- 128 pages in English.
- A5 format (148 x 210 mm).
- No illustrations (except graphs and maps).
- ISBN 9789163368998
Print and download
- You can buy this book in print or as a download.
- The download includes both the PDF and the EPUB version of the book, both DRM free.
Description
The first issue of Destroyer magazine dropped like a bomb in May 2006. For the first time since the 1970s, a gay magazine dared to openly celebrate the beauty of the teenage boy, in words and pictures.
Reactions were fierce. The Swedish LGBT establishment cried out against the magazine, claiming it “gave gay people a bad name”. Neo- Nazis were just as upset, and the Ombudsman for Children demanded a change in the law to make the magazine illegal. A police investigation was instigated and Destroyer’s editor Karl Andersson was summoned to an interrogation.
Gay Man’s Worst Friend is not only the thrilling story of Europe’s most controversial gay magazine, told from Stockholm, Prague and Berlin. It’s also the story of the gay movement in the 21st century. The outraged reactions to Destroyer expose hidden power structures and show how gay identity has been steadily shrunk over recent decades, excluding ever more expressions of homosexuality.
This slightly abridged translation of the Swedish original contains an extra chapter about the reactions to the Swedish book.
Rants and raves
What this slender book does is chart the magazine’s history and backlash, presenting a calm rational response to the hysterical screams of paedophilia. It is, on the whole, quite convincing. —Gay Times, UK
It’s an exciting contemporary history that is told about hard work, about vulnerability, about being in-your-face. —Aftonbladet, Sweden
The novella-sized memoir exhaustingly tells the story of creating the zine, from driving to the printing press to detailing each phone interview given to random European gay weeklies —Out, US
Andersson succeeds in a calm and reasoned look back at the hysteria that Destroyer caused. —Zizo Magazine, Belgium
Although Gay Man’s Worst Friend only has 128 pages, Andersson presents an overload of material for serious reflection on the direction of the gay community of today. —Gay News, Netherlands
Gay man’s worst friend is back —Svenska Dagbladet, Sweden
Karl Andersson explains his love for youths with the help of Michel Foucault, Camille Paglia, and texts from ancient Greece. […] The fascinating book about Destroyer has just come out. —Expressen, Sweden
Varley –
As a gay teenage boy, it inirufates me that Destroyer was the subject of condemnation by LGBT organizations worldwide. We gay teenagers exist, we are apart of the LGBT sub-culture, yet when the topic of sexuality comes up in regards to young gay boys, it is condemned.Karl Andersson did nothing more than face reality and actually gave us a stage to be seen on. I commend him for not giving into the low blows and Fascist responses from these organizations.
robguthm2 –
Why would you be so complimentary and then give a 3 star rating – which in today’s world is not good?