An important decree of queer visibility in food history, excavating and restoring a narrative long buried and obstructed. What Is Queer Food? is also wildly entertaining. John Birdsall continues to establish himself as one of my most anticipated writers.--Lisa Donovan, author of Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger

Readers who love to cook, bake or entertain, collect cookbooks, or use a fork will want this book. Its stories are nicely served, they're addicting, and they may send you in search of cookbooks you didn't know existed.--Terri Schlichenmeyer "OutSFL"

What Is Queer Food? puts the sensual and the sensory at the fore, and it pulsates with hunger for what's possible when queer life and expression is examined through food.--Lukas Volger "New York Times Book Review"

A book that is truly the first of its kind, one that snaps genres and takes risks.--Kristin L. Wolfe "Forbes"

Coupl[es] meticulous research and gorgeous prose.--Bill Addison "Los Angeles Times"

[A] lyrical account.--Joe Yonan "Washington Post"

Spotlights the queer sensibility of various restaurants, recipes and cookbooks, some of which hide in plain sight.--Jaya Saxena "Eater"

Intertwines queer identity and food culture, showing how the LGBTQ+ community has often used food as a tool for joy and community in the face of persecution.--Clare Mulroy "USA Today"

Bears witness to queer history in all its highs and lows.... [S]hows how, through it all, members of the LGBTQ+ community have come together around the table, connected by the food set upon it, to receive sustenance and celebrate queer joy.--Elena Valeriote "Civil Eats"

Engaging.... [W]here Queer Food is most hopeful is in its delivery of dynamic stories of the ways marginalized queer people found voice and influence--not only in the food world but in the larger culture--even in the most oppressive eras.--Edouard Fontenot "Provincetown Independent"

A layered confection of social history, culinary inquiry, and tasty tributes/...A sui generis literary treat.--Jim Gladstone "Passport Magazine"

Combining a novelistic imagination with razor-sharp analysis, Birdsall fills in historical gaps to highlight the resiliency of queer people and cast the culture of food and dining as an unlikely but powerful symbol of resistance. Readers will be eager to dig in.--Publishers Weekly, starred review

What Is Queer Food? weaves the constellations of possibility underlying our cuisines in John Birdsall's gorgeous, ebullient prose. Warm and generous, precise and exacting, this book is one of a kind, tied together by Birdsall's knowingness and generosity. An absolutely gorgeous work.--Bryan Washington, author of Family Meal

Delectable, delightful, delovely! Birdsall's genius has given us a queer chronicle, full of both famous names and untold stories, revealing the subversive secret life of food in America. And done with all the charm and wit of M. F. K. Fisher?a seemingly effortless feast of the senses.--Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less and Less Is Lost

A staggering, sweeping work full of wit and bite. What Is Queer Food? defies category: It's a history and a philosophical argument, a chain of interconnected stories told in John Birdsall's unmistakable voice, sexy and joyous and angry and thrumming with life. It casts a bright light on an essential, under-recognized dimension of American gastronomic history.--Helen Rosner

John Birdsall masterfully unveils the hidden stories of influential figures who have shaped American cuisine?individuals whose queer identities often remain unrecognized. With compassion and insight, he brings their journeys to life, celebrating their strengths while thoughtfully examining their complexities and humanity.--Nik Sharma, author of The Flavor Equation and Veg-Table

Poetically tracing the fascinating, elusive history of queer people and food, John Birdsall, author and former chef, serves us a scrumptious buffet of queer bakers, chefs, cookbook writers, eaters, foods, food parties, food writers, restaurant owners, and reviewers, and the waitpeople who carry it to us?in a nutshell, everything and everyone from soup to nuts. A feast to remember!--Jonathan Ned Katz, author of The Daring Life and Dangerous Times of Eve Adams

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Pub date: 2026-06-02

Length: 304 pages