Cruising for Conspirators

“Cruising for Conspirators is a valuable source and a worthy addition to any library as it corrects the historical record in the Kennedy case by challenging Oliver Stone’s resurrection of Jim Garrison.”—CHOICE

“A worthy addition to Kennedy assassination literature . . . Long has crafted a convincing story of intolerance and abuse of power.”—Michael Wade, Journal of Southern History

“Solidly researched and expertly written. . . . Not a typical screed of conspiracy-or-not arguments that characterize the JFK assassination literature. . . . It is a bit unusual to find research of this caliber in the literature on the JFK assassination. . . . Cruising for Conspirators might well be read as an inoculation against whatever fiction Oliver Stone will deliver in his new documentary.”—Washington Decoded

“The first serious study of the only criminal prosecution ever undertaken in the killing of John F. Kennedy. . . . Cruising for Conspirators offers a unique and elegant approach to the interconnected threads of sexuality, culture, law, and politics in the 1960s. Long deftly shows how fear and loathing of gay men warped the investigation into and memory of the Kennedy assassination.”—Journal of the History of Sexuality

“[An] intimate urban history. . . . Long illustrates a long, intricate process by which [District Attorney Jim] Garrison gathered the evidence he needed to put a Gay man on trial. . . . The reparative significance of Long’s scholarship is that it systematically guides readers through each stage in the creation of an urban legend.”—Journal of Urban History

“This shocking narrative uncovers how decades of police surveillance in New Orleans created a vast paper trail that set the stage for a corrupt district attorney to frame the only man to face prosecution for John F. Kennedy’s assassination, creating a lasting homophobic conspiracy theory in the process. With keen historical sensitivity, Alecia Long reveals the longer patterns and plots that frame this must-read story.”— Jim Downs, author of Stand by Me: The Forgotten History of Gay Liberation

“Exposing the corrupt world of New Orleans policing and the complex gay subculture that thrived in the city’s shadow, Long’s book features an intriguing cast of characters, including ambitious prosecutor Jim Garrison and closeted businessman Clay Shaw. More importantly, it uncovers how cultural notions of gay men as criminal sexual psychopaths came to permeate JFK conspiracy theories and American culture more generally.”— David K. Johnson, author of The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government

In Cruising for Conspirators Alecia Long offers us a fresh new perspective on an endlessly enthralling subject—the alleged conspiracy behind the assassination of John F. Kennedy—revealing how a pervasive cultural and institutional homophobia shaped the prosecution of the only person ever tried in the affair. This is an engrossing and important book, meticulously researched and profoundly relevant to our country’s ongoing attempts to grapple with the deep-rooted inequities of its past.”—Gary Krist, author of The Mirage Factory and Empire of Sin