CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 7/21/2025

A new facsimile edition of 'The Butch Manual'—"a gift to readers and queer studies scholars alike"

Featured spreads are from bookseller favorite, The Butch Manual: The Current Drag and How to Do It—a facsimile reprint (aside from the revised cover) of the cult 1982 Sea Horse Press satire by Jesse Clark Henley, the San Francisco humorist, activist and member of the “lost generation” of Out gay men who died of AIDS in the 1980s. “The Butch Manual is a revelation of visual prowess and comical intuitiveness,” “extremely loud and incredibly gay” San Francisco writer, Deaf advocate and Green-Apple-Books-on-the-Park bookseller Brendan McHugh writes in his Foreword. “This reprint of Butch revels in the book’s biting staying power as it turns focus to a hyper-specific gay white masculinity that queer people still grapple with. The genius in centering Butch as an achievable way of being—while also laughing hysterically at it—is a gift to readers and queer studies scholars alike. To what end will we go as queers to transform ourselves into fantasy? Is fantasy also the path in becoming our true selves? Tragically, Clark’s life was cut short in 1988 by AIDS. His last writings on living with AIDS were heartfelt but still retained Butch’s playful snark, too. Clark’s playfulness is deeply needed in a moment where our community is under direct attack. The importance of having an inside joke helps us stay sane as we remain on the political and cultural defense.”