The Gay Metropolis: The Landmark History of Gay Life in America - Softcover

Kaiser, Charles

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802143172 ISBN 13: 9780802143174

Publisher: Grove Press, 2007

Synopsis

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year and winner of a Lambda Literary Award, The Gay Metropolis is a landmark saga of struggle and triumph that was instantly recognized as the most authoritative and substantial work of its kind. Filled with astounding anecdotes and searing tales of heartbreak and transformation, it provides a decade-by-decade account of the rise and acceptance of gay life and identity since the 1940s. From the making of West Side Story, the modern Romeo and Juliet tale written and staged by four gay men, to the catastrophic era of AIDS, Charles Kaiser recounts the true history of the gay movement with many never-before-told stories. Filled with dazzling characters — including Leonard Bernstein, Montgomery Clift, Alfred Hitchcock, and John F. Kennedy, among many others — this is a vital telling of American history, exciting and uplifting.

About this title

Review:

Charles Kaiser's The Gay Metropolis: 1940-1996, a history of gay life centered in New York, is packed with tales of writers and literature. Kaiser provides a kaleidoscope of details and stories that create a vision of how gay people lived, and illuminates a culture that had enormous influence on both New York and American society. Kaiser writes about such luminaries as Gore Vidal, Edward Albee, Truman Capote, and James Baldwin, but the real drive of The Gay Metropolis is how gay art and writings transformed the lives of everyday gay people. By the end of the book it is clear that gay artistic influence has transformed the American metropolis for both heterosexuals and homosexuals.

About the Author:

Charles Kaiser is the author of the 1968 in America: Music, Politics, Choas, Counter-Culture and the Shaping of a Generation. A former repoter for the New York Times and the Wall Street Joutnal and the former media editor of Newsweek, he has also written for Vanity Fair, the Washington Post, Vogue, and many other publications. He has taught at Columbia University and at Princeton, where he was the Ferris Professor of Journalism. Kaiser currently calls New York City his home.

About this edition

• Publisher: Grove Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0802143172
• ISBN 13: 9780802143174
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 432