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Valencia

'An exuberant, hilarious record of an unprecedented and mutinous time in queer history' Maggie Nelson
By Michelle Tea
Series: Serpent's Tail Classics
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Check link for latest rating. ( 6,928 ratings, 696 reviews)
Brief Description
'One of the few truly life changing books I've encountered' Torrey Peters, bestselling author of Detransition, BabyFleeing Tucson and her troublesome on-and-off ex-girlfriend, Michelle lands in queer San Francisco's riotous underbelly, stumbling through her early twenties in a haze of nightlife, drug adventures, scams and a... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
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The 25th anniversary edition of Michelle Tea's classic coming-of-age story, now with a foreword by Maggie Nelson, award-winning author of The Argonauts

A fast-paced account of one year in San Francisco's underground scene, filled with sex, drugs and the never-ending search for true love.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description
'One of the few truly life changing books I've encountered' Torrey Peters, bestselling author of Detransition, Baby

Fleeing Tucson and her troublesome on-and-off ex-girlfriend, Michelle lands in queer San Francisco's riotous underbelly, stumbling through her early twenties in a haze of nightlife, drug adventures, scams and a string of hookups, break-ups and make-ups. As butches and dykes spin in and out of her orbit, she considers the force and casual cruelty of their desires and her own. Heady, beer-sticky and brimming with life, Valencia is a sharply observed and piercingly funny chronicle of a year lived close to the bone.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781805226819

Publisher: Profile Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 05 June 2025

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Serpent's Tail

Edition: Main

Contributors:

  • Foreword by Maggie Nelson

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 22.0mm

Width: 128.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 240g

Pages: 288

Collections

Fiction General Fiction Literary Fiction Michelle Tea Series: Serpent's Tail Classics

About the Author

Michelle Tea is the author of over a dozen books, including Black Wave, Knocking Myself Up, and Against Memoir. Valencia received the Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Fiction and was adapted into a feature film.

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    Award-winning author Michelle Tea ran away to San Francisco's queer and literary scenes in the early 90s, finding a home on the stages of various open mic venues and self-publishing a steady stream of very limited edition photocopied poetry chapbooks, all of which are available here, collected for the first time. Reflective themes of unrequited love and languor, hopes and...
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  • SLUTS
    What it means to be sexually promiscuous in contemporary American culture, edited by cult-favourite author Michelle Tea. SLUTS, the first publication from vulgarian queer publisher DOPAMINE BOOKS, is an exploration of what it means to be sexually promiscuous in contemporary American culture. Featuring personal essays, spilled secrets, fiction, memoir, and experimental works, SLUTS asks writers and readers to investigate the...
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    One of LitHub's Most Anticipated Books of The Year A new epic novel about a teenage queer runaway from cult classic author of Black Wave and Valencia, Michelle Tea. In Spencer's fantasies, the breezy, queer streets of Provincetown, MA, are utopia, a place where he can be free. Yet when a violent attack in his suburban Arizona schoolyard sends him...
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