DEEP SNIFF: A History of Poppers and Queer Futures

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DEEP SNIFF: A History of Poppers and Queer Futures is the fascinating story of how poppers went from the lab to gay bars, sex stores, bedrooms and porn movies. In a mixture of historical research and astute observation, Adam Zmith explores the cultural forces and unlikely connections behind the power of poppers.

What emerges is not just a story of muggings, viral panic and muscles. It is a collection of fresh and provocative ideas about identity, sex, utopia, capitalism, law, freedom and the bodies with which we experience the world. What begins as a thoughtful examination of poppers becomes a manifesto for the pleasure of poppers in Deep Sniff. A fascinating, enjoyable social and personal history of an underestimated drug. Zmith succeeds in capturing not only the fascinating story of poppers and their role in queer life, but also the pleasure that comes with it.

“Absorbing, riotous, sharply researched and utterly celebratory, Deep Sniff is exactly the kind of queer story we need right now. Through the heady prism of poppers, Zmith explores the queer body with such curiosity and nuance – exposing how the quest for autonomous pleasure is truly political and ongoing.” – Richard Scott, author of Soho.

“Adam Zmith’s Deep Sniff is a fascinating insight into the history of an everyday but rarely considered part of gay male life in the late 20th and early 20th centuries. Poppers. Deep Sniff deftly blends history, personal experience, and cultural commentary and is a remarkable contribution to queer history.” – Hugh Ryan, author of When Brooklyn Was Queer.