On the Same Page: Disasterama

Author Talk: Alvin Orloff, Beth Lisick and K.M. Soehnlein in conversation

Wednesday, 6/10/2020
6:00 - 7:30
Virtual Library

United States

On the Same Page author Alvin Orloff will be in conversation with Beth Lisick and K.M. Soehnlein. 

 Disasterama!: Adventures in The Queer Underground 1977-1997 (Three Rooms Press) by Alvin Orloff. The book begins as Orloff–a shy, lonely teenager–falls under the spell of a human whirlwind named Michael Joseph Collins. Together they embark on a series of adventures involving new wave discos, hustling, drugs, drag, street protest, punk rock, performance art, and exotic dancing. These youthful hijinks are increasingly overshadowed by the AIDS crisis which slowly, then quickly, turns their world upside down. As the devastation mounts, they forge a community of endangered creatives centered around Klubstitute, a queer performance space. By the end of the story, Orloff and his world have been challenged and changed in ways no one could ever have imagined. By turns fun, raunchy, painfully sad, and utterly hilarious, Disasterama! delivers an important slice of San Francisco’s queer history and answers the question: what happens when a bunch of pathologically flippant kids encounter a deadly serious disaster?

Disasterama! is a 2020 Lambda Literary award finalist for Best Gay Memoir.

Reservation required: https://bit.ly/DisasteramaAuthorTalk

Get the book today at Dog Eared Books Castro, you can calls between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. every weekday at (415) 282 1901 or order online.  

Related events

On the Same Page Book Club: Discussing Disasterama! – June 28, 2 p.m., Virtual Library 

Online Exhibit: Alternative Voices: 1980s Punk San Francisco: Photographs by Jeanne Hansen

Book Cover


Author Readings & Lectures

Engage with your favorite writers and discover your next read.

On The Same Page

On The Same Page is a bimonthly city-wide read.

LGBTQIA+ Interest

Gather, share knowledge and celebrate our unique identities at the queerest library ever. 

For more resources, the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center is the gateway to the Library’s broader collections documenting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual history and culture, with a special emphasis on the San Francisco Bay Area.

This program is sponsored by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.

Attending Programs

All programs are drop-in (no registration necessary) unless otherwise noted. All SFPL locations are wheelchair accessible. For accommodations (such as ASL), call (415) 557-4557 or contact accessibility@sfpl.org. Requesting at least 3 business days in advance will help ensure availability.

This program will be conducted in English unless otherwise noted.

Notice: This event may be filmed or photographed. By participating in this event, you consent to have your likeness used for the Library’s archival purposes and promotional materials. If you do not want to be photographed, please inform a staff person or the photographer. A sticker will be provided to help identify you so that we can avoid capturing your image.

Public Notice and Disclaimer

This program uses a third-party website link. By clicking on the third-party website link, you will leave SFPL's website and enter a website not operated by SFPL. This service may collect personally identifying information about you, such as name, username, email address, and password. This service will treat the information it collects about you pursuant to its own privacy policy. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of each third-party website or service that you visit or use, including those third parties with whom you interact through our Library services. For more information about these third-party links, please see the section of SFPL’s Privacy Policy describing Links to Other Sites.

The views and opinions expressed in programs presented by groups unaffiliated with SFPL do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SFPL or the City.