Michael Quinn
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Michael Quinn

  • About/
  • Cultural Criticism/
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    • Quinn on Books
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  • Interviews/
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Michael Quinn

Critical Influences

Michael Quinn

  • About/
  • Cultural Criticism/
    • Book Reviews
    • Quinn on Books
    • Gay Sensibility
  • Critical Influences/
  • Script Doctor/
  • Personal & Reported Essays/
  • Interviews/
  • Contact/

Books shape us. Identity defines us. Culture connects us.

Critical Influences looks at how these forces intersect—through a gay lens.

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March 08, 2025

The Book Club That Didn't Read Me

March 08, 2025/ Michael Quinn
The Book Club That Didn't Read Me

For years, I was part of a book club that shaped how I read—just as much by what we didn’t read as what we did.

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March 08, 2025/ Michael Quinn/
literary criticism, LGBTQ+, critical influences, writing life, reading & identity
LGBTQ+ books, book club, gay, book criticism, book critic
February 08, 2025

The Critics Who Shaped Me

February 08, 2025/ Michael Quinn
The Critics Who Shaped Me

"Oh, so you’re the one all the writers are afraid of!"

That wasn’t how I saw my role at all. In fact, the idea had never crossed my mind. Suddenly, I felt like a great big monster with no idea how ugly he is until people start screaming and running away.

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February 08, 2025/ Michael Quinn/
critical influences, literary criticism, book reviews, cultural criticism, film
literary criticism, book criticism, book reviews, how to read critically, influence of critics, Pauline Kael, Annette Insdorf, how critics shape reading, best film critics, reading like a critic, book reviewers’ influences, queer literary criticism, LGBTQ+ book critics, cultural criticism, LGBTQ+ books, Michael Quinn, mastermichaelquinn.com

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