" In The Un-Natural State readers learn a great deal about the history of queer Arkansas. Thompson does an admirable job of linking contradictory discourses around gender, sexuality, class, and race to show how they affected the emergence of a queer community across the state. what Thompson gives us with The Un-Natural State is a bird' s eye view of the queer South in all its contrariness, complexity, and irreverence." - E. Patrick Johnson, Teachers College Record, July 2 " Thompson' s book is a readable, informative, and thoroughly researched addition to scholarship about LGBT life in the South." - Jeff Mann, Appalachian Journal, Fall 2 / Winter 2 2 " Unlike most queer histories, this book is notable for its discussion of lesbians alongside gay men and drag. Thompson' s innovative use of oral histories, newsletters and newspapers, and court, prison, and legislative records reveals a rich narrative that traditional historical methods would never have uncovered. Thompson' s book is of vital importance for all historians and queer scholars alike.

" - Michael P. Bibler, Journal of American History, September 2 " In this book Brock Thompson mixes personal family history with a study of the construction of rural queer spaces to provide an innovative look at Arkansas and the South more generally." - David K. Johnson, Journal of Southern History, Nov. 2 2 " The Un-Natural State successfully demonstrates the malleability of sexual boundaries in postwar Arkansas. By using the broader term queer, Thompson offers several portraits of sexual transgression that were visible and, at times, encouraged by the mainstream. A must-read for anyone interested in the history of southern culture and sexuality." - David B.

McRae, Southern Historian, May 2 2 " Ultimately, what Thompson' s book establishes most persuasively is the fact that Arkansas is not, and never has been, New York, San Francisco, or any of the other gay metropolises about which historians of queer life in the United States have taught us so much. And that is precisely why we should all be queuing up to buy a copy and read it." - American Historical Review, Feb. 2 2 " There is no doubt that Thompson has written a ground-breaking work. The Un-Natural State may be the most important recent study of the state' s past." - Joseph P. Key, Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Autumn 2 " Brock Thompson not only adds Arkansas to the list of places with a fascinating queer history but also contributes to our understanding of gay and lesbian history in the South and in rural communities more generally." - Leila Rupp, author of A Desired Past: A Short History of Same-Sex Love in America.