Why is That Goddamned Radio On?

Integrating memoir and fiction, Why is that Goddamned Radio On? is Jim Cory’s answer to what has been asked of him. Cory offers deeply personal histories of music, art, and queer life that contemplate the roots of the poetic, pulling the reader through time and place. Returning often to Philadelphia in the 1980s and 90s, these essays and stories reflect on family, relationships, and the mysteries of the city he found a home in.

“This lively collection of memoir essays and autobiographical fiction covers everything from gay bars to bird-watching to family to all kinds of music and queens of all varieties. Jim Cory has written a one-man history of gay life over several decades: friendly, literate, raunchy and surprising.”

— Chris Bram, author of Gods and Monsters

“Jim Cory’s fictions are accretions of quiet wisdom and shrewd observations. Elegantly written, they are witty, slyly humorous, and unfailingly urbane. Readers who appreciate Cory as a consummate poet will be delighted to discover he’s also a consummate storyteller.”

— Vincent Czyz, author of The Christos Mosaic

“Jim Cory’s short stories have the meticulous craftsmanship and precise detail of the best nonfiction. His essays have the depth, expanse, and imagination of fine fiction. His dialogue is by turns hilarious, moving, and exasperatingly true. Why is that Goddamn Radio On? is a treasure house of a book I’ll return to often.”

— Felice Picano, author of Justify My Sins

“Travels fluidly through time, space, and various aesthetic and affective dimensions. Why is that Goddamn Radio On? gives me an experience of time, landscape and relationship that is kind of like talking to Jim. An aging queen telling stories. Observation of self and other that share the same bitchy accuracy. A document of queer life in Philadelphia that begins before AIDS and before gentrification and travels in loops of time and loss.”

— Marion Bell, author of Austerity