Gaysia cover art

Gaysia

Adventures in the Queer East

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Gaysia

By: Benjamin Law
Narrated by: Benjamin Law
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About this listen

Benjamin Law considers himself pretty lucky to live in Australia: he can hold his boyfriend's hand in public and lobby his politicians to recognize same-sex marriage. But as the child of immigrants, he's also curious about how different life might have been had he grown up in Asia. So he sets off to meet his fellow Gaysians.

Law takes his investigative duties seriously, going nude where required in Balinese sex resorts, sitting backstage for hours with Thai ladyboy beauty contestants, and trying Indian yoga classes designed to cure his homosexuality. The characters he meets - from Tokyo's celebrity drag queens to HIV-positive Burmese sex workers and Malaysian ex-gay Christian fundamentalists to Chinese gays and lesbians who marry each other to please their parents - all teach him something new about being queer in Asia.

At once entertaining and moving, Gaysia is a wild ride and a fascinating quest by a leading Australian writer.

©2015 Benjamin Law (P)2016 Audible, Ltd. Biographies & Memoirs Gay Studies LGBTQ+ Studies LGBTQIA+ Marriage
All stars
Most relevant
Couldn't listen to anything else since I started the book, bereft now it is ended. The country to country structure was great, changing theme with each hop. Starting more 'fun', and then in turns bleak, tragic, inspiring. descriptions of people and places are vivid, without being pretentious.

Having the author narrate was great, it feels really authentic and the humour translates easily.

Only slight issue is with the editing. Each chapter finishes with a concluding sentence. Whilst you are thinking about it, the next country title charges in abrubtly.

Funny and tragic, aimiable and informative

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