Eating Fire: Family Life on the Queer Side

John Stanley Senior Policy Advisor Corporate Policy Branch Management
Board Secretariat

“We are family!” has long been a rallying cry of gay and lesbian
activists. In his latest book, gay activist Michael Riordan presents
profiles of a wide range of family types, and especially those he
considers “queer”: lesbians with adopted children, transgendered
people, gay men in open relationships, transvestites and their mothers,
intergenerational relationships. The author also explores his own
relationships with his partner Brian, his grandmother and mother, and
his dog and cat.

The vignettes—ranging in length from a page and a half to a full
chapter—are well written but their sheer number begin to weigh the
reader down. Moreover, the author stretches the concept of “queer”
by suggesting that it encompasses all varieties of sexuality. Where
Eating Fire succeeds is in illustrating Canada’s new social reality;
Riordan necessarily poses more questions than he answers.