An intimate and illuminating account of queer lives and migration, homemaking and community in the Gulf, from a brilliant new voice in narrative non-fiction

'An eye-opening tour de force' ALEX ESPINOZA
'Exhilarating' SUSAN ORLEAN
'Tender and insightful' MOHAMED TONSEY
'I was captivated and carried' ADAM ZMITH
'Vividly reported and luminously reflective' NADIA OWUSU

Upon moving to the Gulf States - where penalties for queer acts include deportation, imprisonment, torture and death - Gaar Adams wants to understand why LGBTQ+ migrants might choose to live amid such peril. From the UAE to Bahrain and Oman to Saudi Arabia - a region where four out of five residents are noncitizens - he begins riskily gathering interviews outside the tightly controlled state media, leading with what he thinks is a simple question:

Isn't it harder for you to make a life here?

But as unforgettable residents share a kaleidoscope of stories - from uproarious Filipino salon workers throwing secret drag parties to a courageous Pakistani farmhand helping his compatriots smuggle themselves across borders - cracks emerge in the framing of his enquiry, revealing disquieting assumptions about the motivations, places and identities of others.

As Gaar begins his own clandestine queer relationship, fault lines and deeper questions begin to emerge: about what we perpetuate and refuse to examine, and how we balance opportunity, risk, subversion and assimilation.

Weaving revealing memoir with unprecedented reportage, Guest Privileges is a decade-long journey of dislocation not just through the Gulf States - one of the most maligned and misunderstood regions in the world - but into the very nature of home, belonging and how we form a life and community.

'Adams gives a voice to a queer community we hear much about, but little from...offering hope in a world witnessing the concerted rollback of queer rights' HUGO GRRENHALGH

About the Author
Gaar Adams is an American writer whose work has been published in the Atlantic, Foreign Policy, Rolling Stone, Al Jazeera, Slate and VICE. He lives in Brixton and is a fellow of London Library Emerging Writer programme. Guest Privileges is his first book.

Reviews
Beautifully written, meticulously researched, and deeply felt, Guest Privileges is an exhilarating journey through unfamiliar terrain. It is a story of queerness in the context of the Middle East, but it will be instantly recognizable to anyone who has yearned to feel at home. -- Susan Orlean, author of THE ORCHID THIEF
A charming exploration of queer life in the Gulf, filled with years of research, intimate interviews, and personal reflection. Guest Privileges is clear, thoughtful, tender writing about the multi dimensions of places and people. I was captivated and carried. -- Adam Zmith, author of DEEP SNIFF
An eye-opening tour de force account skilfully examining how queer people not only build community under threats of imprisonment and death, they live and celebrate and love. An important and necessary contribution to queer literature and an essential one. -- Alex Espinoza, author of CRUISING
A tender and insightful book that weaves memoir into a chronicle of queer lives in the Gulf States. Gaar's writing recognises that the West doesn't get to dictate what queerness looks like, and illustrates with nuance how queer migrant communities in the Gulf States subvert expectations of what it means to find your home elsewhere.' -- Mohamed Tonsy, author of YOU MUST BELIEVE IN SPRING
Guest Privileges is a vividly reported and luminously reflective inquiry into how queer people love, care for, and sustain one another in the face of oppression, violence, and erasure. Adams' open-heartedness and willingness to challenge his assumptions create layers of nuance and complexity. This book will stay with me for a long time. -- Nadia Owusu, author of AFTERSHOCKS



Book Information
ISBN 9781787303706
Author Gaar Adams
Format Hardback
Page Count 304
Imprint Harvill Secker
Publisher Vintage Publishing
Weight(grams) 420g
Dimensions(mm) 218mm * 144mm * 32mm