Left Out: A Political Journey [Hardcover]

Martin Duberman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 7, 1999

For the past thirty-five years, activist and historian Martin Duberman has been witness to our country’s tumultuous confrontations with a formidable array of shifting issues - equality for people of color, the feminist movement, the anti-war movement, the gay/lesbian and AIDS political formations. This selection of his previously published and revised work charts Duberman’s own lifeline as well as those of the varied movements that tried to change the country’s priorities and equalize its privileges. All of these essays, articles, and reviews, first published in such periodicals as The Nation, the New York Times, and The Harvard Gay and Lesbian Review, have been amended for this publication and divided into pertinent categories. Duberman has written a special introduction, as well as introductory essays to each section of the book.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Radical scholar and activist Martin Duberman assembles a representative cross section of his writings in Left Out, an anthology that includes essays on racial politics and gay and lesbian history, as well as critiques of U.S. foreign policy, campus radicalism, and several other topics. Whether he's discussing his experiences working on his acclaimed biography of Paul Robeson or the early years of the National Gay Task Force, Duberman writes with visible passion--giving free rein to his humor and keeping his occasional fury in check. Among the highlights in Left Out are "The 'Father' of the Homophile Movement," a long biographical essay about Donald Webster Cory, also known as Edward Sagarin (who wrote a pioneering account of homosexual life in the 1950s but later became a staunch critic of the movement for acceptance of gays), and "Kinsey's Urethra," a caustic pan of a heavily moralistic biography of sex researcher Alfred Kinsey.

From Publishers Weekly

An award-winning historian who has written extensively on the African-American civil rights struggle, feminism, American imperialism and gay and lesbian liberation, Duberman is also a playwright (In White America) and distinguished professor of history at Lehman College and the Graduate School of the City University of New York. This collection of 31 essays, book reviews and commentaries (many of which appear here in revised versions) chart nearly four decades of political conflict in the United States, in what amounts to an extended meditation on how "exclusion" has functioned as a pivotal force in U.S. history. A self-proclaimed radical who considers himself "a confirmed if qualified patriot... dismayed at our shortcomings... but a tempered optimist about our potential," Duberman sensitively portrays how the struggle for individual and collective freedom coexists with severe state and social oppression. In a 1964 essay, "The Northern Response to Slavery," he discusses why many antislavery Northerners refused to become abolitionists. In "The (Contested) New History of Gays and Lesbians," a 1998 piece in which he examines the philosophical and historical ramifications of labeling historical figures "gay," Duberman combines traditional academic research with common sense and finely tuned moral persuasion. From the student rebellions of the 1960s to the Vietnam War to the racism of the gay movement, he elucidates both the contradictions and shortcomings, as well as the enormous successes, of American radicalism and political struggles for freedom. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; 1st edition (October 7, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465017444
• ISBN-13: 978-0465017447
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,156,616 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delete that review, October 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Left Out: A Political Journey (Hardcover)

To the reader from NYC, Oct. 20th. Did you read the book? At all? The review you gave tells us nothing of the books content and just seems like a bitter, big ego attack on the author. You seem envious. I urge people to go to the bookstore and read a few chapters and you'll see what and extraordinary book/life this is. Then come back to Amazon.com and get it at a steal of a price. Martin Duberman has obviously been on the forefront of the left culture for some time. This is more then just a collection of essays but and education of exclusionary politics that shouldn't be missed by anyone who has a social conscience.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking and enjoyable., October 29, 1999

By 

Rob Sommo (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Left Out: A Political Journey (Hardcover)

Martin Duberman writes with a combination of persuasive scholarly research and a strong sense of personal passion. This book is a thoughtful collection of his essays exploring so many different and important issues. What makes this book so interesting for me is the fact that these essays were written over the last 35 years,helping the reader understand not only the complexity of many of these issues, but the social environment at the time each essay was written. Duberman's insight and empathy come alive. Duberman's introduction, and his notes throughout the book, enhance each essay. His "leftist" spirit has not waned, and these essays are not only well written pieces with important messages, but they are a tribute to Duberman as an important figure voicing the concerns of those who were "left out" in the last 35 years, today, and for the next 35 years!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book written by a great man., April 26, 2001

By 

Bob Berkowitz (Miami, Fl) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Left Out: A Political Journey (Hardcover)

For more years than Rush Limbaugh has been alive, Martin Duberman has been writing about the cause of social justice for everyone. In "Left Out", he superbly shares his essays and thoughts over the last 35 years. Whether he's battling the neos over freedom for Gays and civil rights for blacks, whether he's twisting arms to write a book on the not-so-moral outlook on a good ol Southern boy, the works are solid and lively. A very clear and persuasive argument and reasoning why the Left is the only place left for those who care. Remember that from womens to civil to gay rights, the Left was on the right side and the conservatives were in the wrong. Do not miss this book thats not afraid to state that clearly and eloquently!