You’ve probably seen the cover. It’s vibrant, a bit chaotic, and looks like it belongs on a vintage shelf in a queer bookstore in San Francisco. The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions, written by Larry Mitchell and illustrated by Ned Asta, is a book that shouldn't, by all logic of the publishing industry, be a viral hit in the 2020s. It was released in 1977 by Calamus Books. It’s a fable. It’s a manifesto. Mostly, it’s a weird, beautiful relic that feels more like a prophecy than a history lesson.
People are obsessed with it right now.
Why? Because it captures a specific kind of exhaustion that feels very modern. It was written in the wake of the 1960s radicalism, right as the "revolution" seemed to be stalling out. It describes a world where the "Men" (the capitalists, the patriarchs, the literal cogs of the machine) are in power, and the "faggots" and their friends are just... surviving in the cracks. It’s about the space between the last big fight and the next one.
What Actually Happens in the Book?
The book isn't a novel. Don't go into it expecting a traditional three-act structure with a protagonist named Steve who goes on a journey. It’s a series of vignettes and observations.
Larry Mitchell creates a mythical version of Ramrod City. It’s a place where the Men have won. They own the buildings, the clocks, and the very concept of time. The faggots, the women, the queens, and the radicals live on the fringes. They share food. They share beds. They tell stories to keep from going insane.
The prose is deceptively simple. Some sentences are short. Punchy. Others meander like a conversation after three glasses of wine. This isn't academic queer theory; it’s a fairy tale for people who hate the way the world is currently organized. Mitchell focuses heavily on the idea of communal living. In the 70s, this was a radical reality for many queer people who had been kicked out of their biological families. Today, with the housing crisis and the loneliness epidemic, that vision of "the friends" sharing everything they have feels less like a hippie pipe dream and more like a survival strategy.
The Men vs. The Friends: A Not-So-Subtle Critique
Mitchell doesn't hold back on his disdain for "The Men." In the book, the Men are obsessed with war, money, and repression. They are the ones who created the revolutions, but they are also the ones who ended them.
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The "friends" include a wide cast. You have the women who have stopped caring about what the Men think. You have the faggots who have stopped trying to look like the Men. It’s a total rejection of assimilation. This is a huge reason why the book has seen a massive resurgence among Gen Z and Millennial readers.
For a long time, the goal of the LGBTQ+ movement was "normalcy"—marriage, military service, corporate jobs. Mitchell’s book argues that normalcy is the trap. He suggests that the "between revolutions" period is actually a time to build something entirely different, rather than trying to fix a broken system.
Honestly, it's a bit of a slap in the face to modern corporate pride.
Why 1977 Matters (and Why 2026 Feels the Same)
Context is everything. 1977 was a weird year. The high of Stonewall had faded. The radicalism of the early 70s was being replaced by a more conservative, "respectable" gay rights movement. People were tired.
We’re in a similar spot. The political "revolutions" of the 2010s have largely been swallowed by bureaucracy or met with intense backlash. When you read Mitchell’s descriptions of the Men trying to count and categorize everything, it feels exactly like our current era of data tracking and algorithmic living.
Ned Asta’s illustrations are a massive part of the experience. They aren't just decorations. They are part of the world-building. The drawings are queer in the truest sense—liminal, sketchy, and expressive. They remind you that this book was a physical object made by hand, passed around in communities that were often ignored by the mainstream press.
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The Real-World Legacy of Larry Mitchell
Larry Mitchell wasn't just a writer; he was part of the Lavender Hill commune in Ithaca, New York. This wasn't some abstract theory for him. He lived it.
- He was a sociologist by training.
- He founded Calamus Books to publish things the mainstream wouldn't touch.
- He lived through the peak of the AIDS crisis, which tragically took many of the "friends" he wrote about.
When you read the book today, there is a certain sadness to it. You realize that the "next revolution" Mitchell was waiting for was largely derailed by a pandemic. However, the 2018 re-release by Nightboat Books brought it back into the cultural conversation. It’s been adapted into a musical theater piece by Philip Venables and Ted Huffman, proving that the text has a rhythmic, almost liturgical quality that works on stage.
Key Themes People Get Wrong
A common mistake is thinking this book is just a "gay book." It’s much broader. It’s an anti-capitalist text. It’s a feminist text.
Mitchell talks about how the Men use "the women" to maintain their power, and how some women choose to become "friends" while others choose to stay within the system of the Men. It’s a nuanced look at power dynamics that doesn't just rely on gender identity. It’s about alignment.
Whose side are you on? Are you on the side of the people who want to own the world, or the people who want to inhabit it?
The book is also surprisingly funny. It’s snarky. It mocks the seriousness of the Men. There’s a section about how the Men are afraid of pleasure because it’s something they can't tax or control. That’s a powerful thought. Basically, Mitchell is saying that being happy in a world designed to make you miserable is a revolutionary act.
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Actionable Insights for the "Between Revolutions" Era
If you’re feeling the weight of the world, this book offers more than just poetry. It offers a framework for how to exist when you feel like you've lost.
Focus on Mutual Aid, Not Just Policy
Mitchell’s "friends" don't wait for the Men to pass a law to help them. They share what they have. In 2026, this looks like community gardens, tool libraries, and local support networks. Stop waiting for a savior and start looking at your neighbors.
Protect Your Joy
The Men in the book thrive on the "friends" being miserable and tired. If you’re constantly outraged and exhausted, you’re easier to control. Finding ways to laugh, dance, and create—even when things look bleak—is a form of resistance.
Reject the Need for Perfection
One of the most human parts of the book is that the friends aren't perfect. They argue. They mess up. But they stay together. We often kill our movements by demanding everyone be a saint. Mitchell reminds us that being "between revolutions" is messy.
Build Your Own "Calamus"
If the mainstream media or the current digital landscape doesn't have space for your voice, build your own. Start a zine. Start a weird blog. Larry Mitchell didn't wait for a major publisher to say yes; he did it himself.
The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions isn't a roadmap to a specific destination. It’s a guide on how to walk through the woods when you’re not sure where the path is. It’s a reminder that we’ve been here before, and we’ll be here again. The Men are always counting their money, and the friends are always sharing their stories.
Pick up a copy. Read it slowly. Look at the drawings. You might find that the 1970s have a lot more to say about your current life than you ever expected.