RaveThe Brooklyn RailSearing and breathless ... Engaged in symbolic battle with much of the world around him, Joe’s rebellious spirit distills the queer resentment that exploded after the Gay Liberation of the sixties ... Westmoreland’s mellow prose tempers the more heartrending scenes. When describing the cascading horror of the AIDS crisis, his unassuming style makes the most crushing moments feel tender and raw ... Westmoreland’s clear-eyed observations portray a unique and mercurial odyssey ... Redolent of its era without ever being a relic of it, Tramps Like Us holds its own among queer road classics like Jean Genet’s The Thief’s Journal or Wojnarowicz’s Close to the Knives. Though Tramps is more conventional and naturalistic than those books, it moves with the same delinquent stride. Westmoreland’s blend of noise and sights, romance and friendship, render a portrait of queer joy as a hard-earned victory of survival.
