Hitting Hard: Michelangelo Signorile on George W. Bush, Mary Cheney, Gay Marriage, Tom Cruise, the Christian Right and Sexual Hypocrisy in America [Paperback]

Michelangelo Signorile (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 27, 2005

For over two decades, Michelangelo Signorile has been among the most outspoken and controversial critics of American politics and culture. As a gay activist and journalist, he earned acclaim as the father of the “outing” phenomenon. Today, he remains one of the most widely read and talked about gay muckrakers. In Hitting Hard (Signorile’s first new book since his national bestseller, Outing Yourself), the author tackles the most heated topics of debate among gay people and the political left.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Best known as the columnist who invented the practice of "outing"—exposing closeted public figures whose actions damage the gay community—Signorile pursues controversy with verve and pizzazz in this briskly penned collection of essays and columns, many of which originally appeared in Out or the Advocate. Memorable pieces describe same-sex couples in the South; the difficulties of the gay rights movement in Italy; the eventful lives of "good buddy" (gay male) truckers; and the tough-minded high school student in Fayetteville, Ark., who found support first from his family, and then from GLSTN, a national organization that helps protect gay people in schools. Other, more polemical, pieces raised hackles on first publication. In the late 1990s, Signorile denounced a trend toward "barebacking" (intentionally unprotected sex) and, later, he caught gay conservative Andrew Sullivan soliciting such sex through the Internet. Signorile attacks the new pope for his explicitly anti-gay stance, parses mixed reactions to the coming-out of former New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey, and warns repeatedly that AIDS and HIV are by no means problems solved. Less consequential politically, but equally important to Signorile's persona, are his writings on gay celebrities: two columns on Rosie O'Donnell show Signorile's swing from hostility to celebration as O'Donnell's stance toward her own sexuality changed. (Sept.)
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About the Author

Michelangelo Signorile hosts a daily (2-6 ET) talk show on Sirius Satellite Radio's OutQ, and writes a syndicated column for New York Press. Signorile has been an editor-at-large and a columnist at The Advocate, and a columnist for OUT magazine. He's authored several books and written for many publications, including The New York Times, USA Today, The New York Observer, Gay.com, New York Magazine, and the Village Voice. His third book, Life Outside, was a 1998 finalist for the New York Public Library's Book Award for Excellence in Journalism.

Signorile has reported from the floor of the Republican National Convention (three times!), and from the roof of the Vatican. He's hitched a ride with gay truckers barreling down the Wyoming highway, explored Italy's closeted gay underground, and visited with New Zealand's first transgendered member of Parliament. He's appeared on Larry King Live, Good Morning America, Today, 60 Minutes, and other shows.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf (July 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786716193
• ISBN-13: 978-0786716197
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,762,245 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars National treasure, August 30, 2005

By 

Richard Miller (Paris France) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hitting Hard: Michelangelo Signorile on George W. Bush, Mary Cheney, Gay Marriage, Tom Cruise, the Christian Right and Sexual Hypocrisy in America (Paperback)

Once again, Michele Signorile has put out a collection of articles that express -- clearly, elegantly, wittily and pertinently -- the best thinking on gay issues being thought today. With Larry Kramer and a few others, he has been the voice of sane homosexuality for quite some time, saying things that should long ago not have needed to be said -- but wow! the attention span does seem to get shorter every day. I hope, therefore, that he will continue to say them as often and as copiously as he deems necessary, and for many years to come. I most seriously urge every gay man in America (and elsewhere too) to read him and to LISTEN. He really knows what he is talking about --and there are truly not many men around these days, in any sphere, about whom one can say the same! I do not know him, but I love him. He is a national treasure. Long may he flourish. I eagerly await his every article and his next book.
Richard Miller

3 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Signorile does it again., February 24, 2006

By 

Ward J. Mahowald (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hitting Hard: Michelangelo Signorile on George W. Bush, Mary Cheney, Gay Marriage, Tom Cruise, the Christian Right and Sexual Hypocrisy in America (Paperback)

I have a great deal of admiration and respect for this man. I think he is intellectually honest and pulls no punches. Always enjoy his take on topics and people he writes about.