My Queer War

A powerful memoir of sexual awakening during World War II, telling of a young man’s exposure to the terrors, dislocations, and horrors of armed conflict.

“My Queer War is magnificent. . . . There has never been anything quite like it and it deserves to become a classic.” —Larry Kramer

In 1942, a timid, inexperienced twenty-one-year-old Lord reports to Atlantic City, New Jersey, to enlist in the U.S. Army. His career in the armed forces takes him to Nevada, California, Boston, England, and, eventually, France and Germany. There he witnesses firsthand the ravages of total war on Europe’s land and on its people. Along the way he comes to terms with his own sexuality, experiences the thrill of first love and the chill of disillusionment with his fellow man, and in a moment of great rashness makes the acquaintance of the world’s most renowned artist, who will show him the way to a new life.

My Queer War is a rich and moving record of one man's maturation in the crucible of the greatest war the world has known. If his war is queer, it is because each man's experience is strange in its own way. His is a story of universal significance and appeal, told by a wry and eloquent observer of the world and of himself.

“Here’s proof that wars could be a tiny bit less brutal with gay people serving in the military. James Lord may not have “asked” and he certainly didn’t “tell,” but he writes about running from “the inconvenience of being queer” during the Second World War with unsparing bravery.” —John Waters

“[In My Queer War] there are probing reflections on sex, violence, and iniquities that men suffer at the hands of other men.” —The New Yorker