If you loved
Books like Trash
A raw, unapologetic exploration of survival, shame, and queer desire in the working-class South. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with Trash.
- gritty
- bruised
- intimate
- defiant
- 01
Bastarda
Dorothy Allison · 2000
A raw, beautifully brutal coming-of-age story that captures the humid, suffocating weight of family loyalty and the fierce will to survive.
- 02
After Delores
Sarah Schulman · 1988
A gritty, neon-lit descent into heartbreak and obsession set against the raw backdrop of 1980s queer New York.
- 03
Rubyfruit Jungle
Rita Mae Brown · 1987
A fiercely funny, unapologetic romp through mid-century America that celebrates living loudly and loving women without an ounce of shame.
- 04
Her Body and Other Parties
Carmen Maria Machado
A surreal, razor-sharp fever dream that maps the violence and desire inscribed upon women's bodies.
- 05
Let the Dead Bury Their Dead
Randall Kenan
An intimate, atmospheric collection of short fiction exploring the intersections of Black and queer identity in the Carolinas.
- 06
Stone Butch Blues
Leslie Feinberg · 1993
A raw, unflinching, and deeply tender testament to surviving in a world that refuses to make space for you.
- 07
Zami
Audre Lorde · 1984
A lush, mythic exploration of self-discovery, tracing the fierce and tender lineages of women who shape a life.
- 08
Faggots
Larry Kramer · 1978
A frantic, sweat-soaked descent into 1970s gay hedonism that masks a desperate, aching plea for true love.
- 09
The Sluts
Dennis Cooper
A dizzying, voyeuristic descent into an internet forum where desire, myth, and extreme violence blur into a terrifying hall of mirrors.
- 10
Push
Sapphire
A harrowing but ultimately triumphant descent into the darkest corners of abuse, illuminated by the radical, life-saving power of language.
- 11
City of Night
John Rechy
An unflinching, neon-lit journey through the gritty margins of mid-century America, pulsing with restless energy and the search for self.
- 12
Difficult Women
Roxane Gay
A raw, unflinching exploration that lays bare the painful and defiant realities of navigating the world in a woman's body.
