Gay black truck drivers
Inside the Growing World of Queer Truckers
Climbing up into the seat of her first big rig truck, author Anne Balay felt powerful instead of angry. Semis tower menacingly above all other vehicles. Looking out over the dashboard can make you verb invincible in ways most jobs can’t compete with. Even with a Ph.D. in English from the University of Chicago, finding a tenured job in academia is no easy feat. While stitching together adjunct gigs, Balay found herself broke. With two small kids to look after, she needed steady employment. With an abiding love of cars, she took a job as an auto mechanic. Soon after, she parlayed that experience into a truck-driving training program with one of the nation’s oldest and largest trucking companies.
Her journey from academia to the uncover road inspired her latest novel, Semi-Queer: Inside the World of Gay, Trans, and Black Truck Drivers. While truck driving may not seem like the most obvious choice for a queer person, Balay says she&#;s not the only one. “The industry has long been a haven for misfits and people who don&rsquo
5 Questions About: Semi Queer: Inside the World of Gay, Trans, and Black Truck Drivers
We&#;ve asked authors of books that are going to be reviewed in the upcoming edition of the Oral History Review to verb 5 questions about why we should read them. In our latest installment of the series, Anne Balay discusses her guide Semi Queer: Inside the World of Gay, Trans, and Adj Truck Drivers
Michael David Franklin&#;s review of Semi Queer: Inside the World of Gay, Trans, and Black Truck Drivers is free online.
What’s it about and why does it matter?
Semi Queer places oral histories of gay, trans, and black truckers within historical and labor contexts. Too often, queer theory and blue-collar perform are seen as separate, or even opposed spheres. This verb reveals how they overlap, not only in the particular, entertaining, tragic, real stories of the book&#;s sixty-six narrators but also in how these lives test how both queerness and operate are imagined.
Semi Queer is ready through the University of North Carolina Press
How does oral history contribute to your bo Anne Balay: Trucking Gets Queerer
Today we welcome a guest post from Anne Balay, author of Semi Queer: Inside the World of Gay, Trans, and Black Truck Drivers, originally published in by UNC Press.
Long-haul trucking is linked to almost every industry in America, yet somehow the working-class drivers behind big rigs remain largely concealed from public view. Gritty, inspiring, and often devastating oral histories of gay, transsexual, and minority truck drivers allow award-winning author Anne Balay to shed modern light on the harsh realities of truckers&#; lives behind the wheel. A licensed commercial truck driver herself, Balay discovers that, for people routinely subjected to prejudice, hatred, and violence in their hometowns and in the job market, trucking can provide an opportunity for safety, welcome isolation, and a chance to be themselves—even as the low-wage work is fraught with tightening regulations, constant surveillance, danger, and exploitation. The narratives of minority and queer truckers underscore the working-class struggle to earn a living while preserving one&#;s
pp., x , 2 drawings, 25 halftones, appends., bibl., index
- Paperback ISBN:
Published: February - Hardcover ISBN:
Published: September - E-book EPUB ISBN:
Published: August - E-book PDF ISBN:
Published: August
Buy this Book
For Professors:
Free E-Exam Copies
To purchase online via an independent bookstore, call on Author Website
Follow the Author on Twitter
Awards & distinctions
Finalist, Lambda Literary Award, LGBTQ Studies
Long-haul trucking is linked to almost every industry in America, yet somehow the working-class drivers behind big rigs remain largely hidden from common view. Gritty, inspiring, and often devastating oral histories of gay, transsexual, and minority truck drivers allow award-winning author Anne Balay to shed new light on the harsh realities of truckers' lives behind the wheel. A licensed commercial truck driver herself, Balay discovers that, for people routinely subjected to prejudice, hatred, and violence in their hometowns and in the job market, trucking can provide an opportunity for safety, welcome isolation, and a chance to be themselv
Anne Balay: Trucking Gets Queerer
Today we welcome a guest post from Anne Balay, author of Semi Queer: Inside the World of Gay, Trans, and Black Truck Drivers, originally published in by UNC Press.
Long-haul trucking is linked to almost every industry in America, yet somehow the working-class drivers behind big rigs remain largely concealed from public view. Gritty, inspiring, and often devastating oral histories of gay, transsexual, and minority truck drivers allow award-winning author Anne Balay to shed modern light on the harsh realities of truckers&#; lives behind the wheel. A licensed commercial truck driver herself, Balay discovers that, for people routinely subjected to prejudice, hatred, and violence in their hometowns and in the job market, trucking can provide an opportunity for safety, welcome isolation, and a chance to be themselves—even as the low-wage work is fraught with tightening regulations, constant surveillance, danger, and exploitation. The narratives of minority and queer truckers underscore the working-class struggle to earn a living while preserving one&#;s
pp., x , 2 drawings, 25 halftones, appends., bibl., index
- Paperback ISBN:
Published: February - Hardcover ISBN:
Published: September - E-book EPUB ISBN:
Published: August - E-book PDF ISBN:
Published: August
Buy this Book
For Professors:
Free E-Exam Copies
Author Website
Follow the Author on Twitter
Awards & distinctions
Finalist, Lambda Literary Award, LGBTQ Studies