MOBY DYKE

The saga of a queer blogger traveling the nation in search of lesbian bars.

In the past couple decades, lesbian bars and clubs have become an endangered species. While gay bars have flourished, lesbian and queer women’s establishments are fewer and farther between. Burton, the creator of the popular blog Effing Dykes, recalls how vital these bars were to her in her younger days and how she has yearned for a chance to seek out other circles of queer folk, especially after the pandemic lockdown. The author writes with a bloglike familiarity, often employing stream-of-consciousness prose. Her overenthusiastic and quippy tone paints the book more as a memoir or think piece than a sociological case study. Readers expecting a data-filled, academic record will be disappointed. The book is more of a travel diary, with the author recounting funny anecdotes and personal revelations throughout. “Just me and my thoughts, heading to a lesbian bar near you!” she writes at the beginning of a journey filled with rental-car fiascos, tangents about karaoke, and other travel mishaps. Each chapter tells the tale of a different bar, sprinkled with comments from owners and customers about how the bar stayed open and how it has adapted for survival over the years. Apprehensive about approaching strangers, Burton sometimes forgoes the interview portion and focuses on her personal enjoyment in the club or bar. As a self-identifying femme lesbian, she writes about feeling excluded or presumed straight by others in the queer community. She investigates that emotional journey throughout her expedition alongside her larger quest for lesbian bars. Certain LGBTQ+ terms are explained concisely for those who may not be familiar with them. Using lots of capital letters, exclamation points, italics, and pop-culture references to get points across, the author presents a lighthearted, honest narrative about her messy adventure.

Fans of travel memoirs and Burton’s zealous personality will delight in this white-whale hunt.