We Can Be Heroes: A Survivor's Story

An amazing memoir. I have never finished a book in less than 48 hours before, but Paul takes you on such an immensely powerful and honest journey, I literally could not put this book down. Best way I can describe it is similar to that same sense of deeply personal connection, almost euphoria, that you sometimes feel listening to a piece of music. That it is yours, and yours alone. It is such a joy. (David Bowie and Kate Bush fans will relate).This memoir is filled with unexpected twists and turns, and some very scary and painfully relatable moments, yet through all this, Paul insists on injecting some wonderfully observational and sometimes very tongue in cheek humor.This is simply a marvelous read - especially to anyone that grew up gay, in the UK, in the eighties.In fact, it is a marvelous read for anyone that didn't.

I don’t remember how I ended up getting this book—possibly a freebie through BookBub? No matter how I got it, I’m so glad I did. Paul Burston poured out his guts in this book and left nothing back. It is educational, entertaining, torturous and breathtaking. I took notes and will do some diving to find out more about the people, places and events he talks about. This book is living history.

‘We can be heroes’ is on one level a very personal insight into a man whom I’m honoured to call a friend. However, on another level it is an educational piece, it is the story which should have been shared during those less enlightened Section 28 days, it should be read by all those younger people who are still coming to terms with their sexuality, or feeling the loneliness and shame of abuse or bullying. ‘We can be heroes’ is the story of hope, hard work and salvation. Paul Burston has paved the way for many to follow. Keep bothering, keep speaking truth to power and most importantly keep being the true you. Paul’s struggles, his successes, his highs and lows and ultimately his understanding and acceptance of them make this the most compelling and personal story.

Paul Burston has written a gutsy, gritty memoir overflowing with drama and heartbreak. Managing to survive a traumatic childhood, he moved from his small Welsh town to London, finally as an out gay man. We Can Be Heroes is a fascinating insight into what it was like to be gay in the 1980s in Britain, and the gay scene in London. For me it was also a trip down a musical memory lane. While I hardly recognised any of the celebrities, shows or magazines, he mentions, I do know and love the music.The book, of course, is also about the Aids plague, and its devastating effects. Not only did it cause illness and death, but led to homophobia becoming rife in Britain. It became a very unsafe place for visibly gay men, like Burston.The author threw himself into gay activism, only turning away when he’d lost one too many fellow AIDS activists to the disease. Not dealing with his own trauma, he turns increasingly to alcohol and drugs to escape. Despite this, he has a successful career trajectory, moving from freelance journalism to authoring novels to setting up a literary salon to provide a platform for LGBTQ+ authors, poets and performers. “Here we could be the stars of our own stories. We could be heroes.”I had never heard of Burston before. He comes across as hugely courageous and unafraid to stand up for his convictions. He’s also totally out there, and has the confidence to be himself. And yet he writes with humility, and is happy to detail his failings, his demons, his shame, and his survival.I won’t forget this read in a hurry!

I really got engrossed in this book. It brought me back to 1970s San Francisco. I lived in the Castro, so I saw it all. Paul brought back so many good memories, but oh, so many bad ones. We lost a few friends to AIDS. You couldn't walk down Castro without hearing someone mention a friend was positive or one was dead. It was just a horrible, horrible time. Gays were treated like the plague. My husband had a nurse in SF General Hospital yell at him because he hugged our friend who had AIDS. I'm so glad now there are medicines and less ignorance.Paul's writing of activism was also very informative and interesting. Then again, Paul is very interesting. It's just a wonderful, wonderful book, and I'm buying a copy for my gay grandson so he can see how it was.Thank you, Paul, for writing this book. The beginning of AIDS has kind of been forgotten.Loved all the boyfriend stories. Brought back funny memories for me.

Paul is not only a fascinating and wonderful human with a valuable personal perspective, but his story is an essential piece of our history.

I really enjoyed this book. PB's place at the helm of gay literary London as the founder and curator of Polari, and his earlier days as a crusading journalist, mean he is a man with a story to tell. His insights into the AIDS era are sobering, and even more so when he relates how young people he encounters today are often ignorant of this far-from-ancient history when presented to them. This is a romp through a hectic, significant life. It's full of highs and lows and with nothing glossed over, however painful. It's also the life behind his novels where you'll find it reflected in various shades - and like this memoir, they are well worth a read.

I couldn’t put this extraordinary memoir down once I began it. Brilliantly written, pacy, well-structured and hugely compelling this is gold standard as far as queer memoir is concerned. What I particularly admired was the discussion of literature and drama and the effect that reading has had throughout Burston’s life. All the greats are mentioned here from Joe Orton, Jean Genet, Tennessee Williams, Oscar Wilde, Albert Camus, and Jean Cocteau through to Neil Bartlett, Armistead Maupin and, of course, the great Derek Jarman. Literature is brilliantly threaded throughout the memoir, culminating in a discussion of how Burston set up Polari, the queer literary salon in 2007, which is still thriving. The discussion of Paul’s back catalogue of both academic and fictional works was also fascinating, giving real insight into the publishing world. These books really should be re-issued…The writing is always clean and precise which makes it so compelling to read. (It is also formally textured too – take for example the present tense paragraphs that open Chapter 18 in which Burston recalls taking Ecstasy. So clever, beautifully realised).In a life as rich and varied as Burston’s there are many fascinating anecdotes, but not once do they read as cliched or schmalzy which isn’t easy to pull off. Burston achieves this perfect pitch by blending real humour with searing honesty. And, to his credit, there is no mythologising of any of the cultural figures whom Burston has brushed shoulders with. Take, for example, Leigh Bowery: : “Back then, he just annoyed me!”, Burston writes unapologetically. It is this unflagging honesty and Burston’s commitment to the truth that carries the reader willingly along with him. But alongside such little quips there are also many moving tributes to icons of the 80s/90s queer scene who are no longer with us, for example, Regina Fong and Derek Jarman, both of whom Burston remembers with touching tenderness.Another thread that I enjoyed was Burston’s recall of the London gay scene of the 80s and 90s. There are places that I’d all but forgotten about: Busby’s in Mile End, Banana Max in Earls Court, Kensington Market, to name just a few. Burston’s recall is impressive, and he restores spaces that have now vanished in vivid and colourful detail. This memoir is an archive of feelings: of places and spaces, of luminaries, of trauma and hurt, of transgression, of ambition, of failing, of winning, of celebration, compassion, disgust, anger and activism. Most of all it is a memoir of having courage in oneself as well as courage for others.If you like or love David Bowie then you’ll adore this book, though my favourite line is reserved for another great musical icon, Kate Bush: “To be fair,” Burston writes, “Few things in life are as dramatic as 'The Dreaming' by Kate Bush.” I laughed out loud: so true, so perfect.I cannot recommend this memoir strongly enough. As a reader it worked for me on multiple levels, and it will connect with readers of any age because it is so dazzlingly and honestly told. And there’s a lot to learn too - if you want to know what real activism looks like then you’ll find plenty of it here, not just through Burton’s work with ACT UP (for which we must all be grateful), but in so many other micro acts of queer resistance and bravery.Bravo Paul Burston and thank you for the memories. Looking forward to seeing where the future will take you next.

Paul Burston has always been one of those guys that are “too cool for school”, the kind that I watch from the periphery but I’ve always been too shy to go and say hello to. I read his last novel, The Closer I Get and I was blown away by it, especially as I knew it was based around a personal experience he’d had. I’ve seen him at various events but always watched from the side-lines. When I heard he was bringing out his memoir, I knew I wanted to read it and when I found out he was at this year’s Aye Write festival in Glasgow…well how could I miss it!Paul Burston and I are of the same era and some of that good, bad and downright ugly 1980s is a history we share. I too was “a post punk, New Romantic and almost goth” in my days, so I was looking forward to a nostalgic trip down memory lane when I went along to the panel and reading the book. But what I wasn’t expecting was the powerful, raw and emotional punch his words left me with. I cried and I laughed reading the book but it also made me angry, it reignited that anger I’d felt as a teenager back then at the bigotry and hatred that was endemic in our country towards anyone deemed to be “different”. I grew up in a small town, white hetro female but I was angry at a world that stigmatised, demonised and criminalised sections of our communities that they viewed as different and I said as much to anyone who would listen to me. But after reading We Can Be Heroes, I felt angry and sad that I didn’t say more and that I didn’t shout louder and for that I am sorry.We could be heroes is a trip down memory lane in terms of the music, society and politics of the time, it brought back memories, smiles, tears and anger. It is poignant and it is brutally honest in its truth.Paul’s story is one of courage, fear and determination and bravery, to have lost so many friends and loved ones in his early 20s was heart wrenching to read and then to have to face a society that attributed blame to a whole community for a virus…I cannot imagine how that must have felt but he captures the emotions and the anger perfectly.Paul has lived the most colourful and fascinating life, it is impossible to read and not to feel inspired by the stand he has made throughout his life; he has rubbed shoulders with some incredible people and has stories to tell that I could sit for hours and listen to. But his story is also one of vulnerability and this book lays his soul bare at times, such courage and honesty, it is to be applauded.I hope it makes you angry and I hope that it makes you understand that while things might have got a little bit better, hatred and bigotry is still very much alive and kicking. I will speak louder now; I know it is not my battle and that I don’t face the same issues that the LGBTQ2+ community do and I’ll never ever pretend to know what it’s like. But we are all human beings and kindness, respect and acceptance goes a long, long way.And yes, I did pluck up the courage to say hello to Paul at Aye Write! He is most definitely too cool for school but he is warm, approachable and absolutely delightful. And after reading his memoir, he is most definitely a hero in my eyes and I’m sure in the eyes of many.

I bought this to read on a long plane journey and found it kept my attention well.As the author is around my age, I identified with the background descriptions to his experiences.I enjoyed the story and found it opened my eyes to one person's cultural experience of which I previously had no knowledge.I would recommend this novel/autobiography to my friends, even though I was unfamiliar with the author.

As a fan of Burston’s previous fiction work, like Shameless and The Black Path, I eagerly awaited the publication of his memoir and I was not disappointed!His years as a journalist and the skills he honed in his fiction work combined beautifully to tell the story of his years as an activist in ActUP and the trials and tribulations of a small town boy who sort a better life in London.Full of laughter and love even at the most harrowing of times, Burston transports us from Wales to Hollywood with keen insight and rich historical nuggets.It isn’t always the easiest of reads, but his honest and raw account of his life as a survivor of sexual abuse is an important and ultimately uplifting journey.I highly recommend this book. For the laughs. The love. And the honesty. We Can Be Heroes is a memoir of one man’s journey to find himself, but it’s a story that can inspire us all to be the hero of our own tale.