Queer Street: The Rise and Fall of an American Culture, 1947-1985

McCourt, James

ISBN 10: 0393050513 / ISBN 13: 9780393050516

Published by W W Norton & Co Inc, 2003

About this Item

Flat-signed by McCourt on title page in black ink, 2nd print, text tight clean unmarked, NO age toning, dust jacket NOT price-clipped, dj shows light edge wear with a tiny chip at top of spine and a wrinkle along top edge front, Near Fine/Good Plus condition.

Seller Inventory # 36477

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Queer Street: The Rise and Fall of an American Culture, 1947-1985
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0393050513
• ISBN 13: 9780393050516
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Like New
• Weight: 32 ounces
• Signed: Signed
• Seller catalogs:
  • Societal Issues

About this title

Synopsis

Beginning with the influx of liberated veterans into downtown New York in the golden age before McCarthyism, Queer Street tells the explosive story of gay culture in the latter half of the twentieth century. Coming out himself in the "buttoned-up/button-down" 1950s, McCourt positions his own experience against the whirlwind history of the era, summoning a pageant of characters that includes Harry Hay, Judy Garland, Tennessee Williams, Gore Vidal, and Truman Capote. In a learned but lively voice, McCourt highlights the major events of the period: the landmark eruption at the Stonewall Inn, the AIDS crisis that brought an end to a century of bathhouse culture, the ascendancy of the Christian right, and finally the social acceptance of gays that paradoxically marked the demise of queer culture. "Not since Truman Capote's Black and White Ball has there been such a gala collection of sacred monsters, feathered masks, icy pearls, chiseled remarks and bitchy mots all in one glamorous setting....An astonishing book, at once hilarious and touching."J. D. McClatchy

About the Author

James McCourt is the author of three novels and two short story collections. He has contributed to the Yale Review, The New Yorker, and The Paris Review. He lives in Washington, DC.