When he got home, Booster reflected on Austen and the island in an essay for Penguin Random House.
Though they had a great time, Booster said, “there were moments when it became clear: There are no straight people around to oppress us, but gay men find a way.” During their vacation to the historic Long Island gay resort, Booster was rereading Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice for the first time since he was a teenager, and “it really struck me while I was there how relevant its observations about class are, specifically ways in which people communicate across class lines.” As great as Fire Island and other spaces for gay men can be, there’s also “a lot of toxicity,” and Booster realized that Austen’s comedy of manners “could so easily be mapped onto our experience.” He knew he wasn’t your “typical Fire Island boy” (white, rich, well connected), Booster told me in a recent interview - but he and his friend SNL star Bowen Yang went anyway. When writer and comedian Joel Kim Booster decided to go to Fire Island for the first time eight years ago, he initially had some reservations.
