My American History: Lesbian and Gay Life During the Reagan/Bush Years [Paperback]

Sarah Schulman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 7, 1994 | ISBN-10: 0415908531 | ISBN-13: 978-0415908535

My American History contains pieces written between 1981 and 1992, that document the expectations and imaginations of activists as they struggled, under impossible odds and an ever-growing opposition, to articulate a movement for freedom and dignity during the Reign of Reaganism. Also included is the Lesbian Avengers Handbook.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Schulman, best known as an award-winning novelist (Empathy, LJ 11/1/92) and journalist for both the gay and mainstream press, has here assembled all the nonfiction articles she wrote over an 11-year period. From AIDS to Thelma and Louise, Schulman takes us on a tour of gay culture over the last decade and brings us into the mind of a young gay Jewish woman living in the United States today. In one previously unpublished essay "I Was a Lesbian Child," Schulman writes about society's hypocrisy in denying gay teachers the opportunity to be role models for their students, both gay and straight, while continuing to endorse the hiring of heterosexual males even though over 90 percent of sexual abuse cases are perpetrated by men against girls. Her views may have a limited audience, but this collection of essays, reviews, and articles would be a valuable purchase for American studies collections as well as gay and lesbian studies collections.
Patricia Sarles, Brooklyn P.L., New York
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Novelist Schulman's compilation of the editorials, news articles, addresses, and book excerpts she has published in gay and feminist publications chronicles the growth of the gay and lesbian coalition, of ACT-UP, and of the Lesbian Avengers, 1981-93. Aspects of that development that she traces include early AIDS activism; battles against the Moral Majority and antigay violence; passage of the federal Hate Crime Statistics Act in 1990; the dispute over gay and lesbian books in the New York City public schools; the growth of federal AIDS initiatives and funding; and the rise of Ervin "Magic" Johnson as the ideal AIDS poster boy. To some of the pieces Schulman appends brief commentaries that update us on the development of the issues discussed and place them in greater perspective. Whitney Scott --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Routledge (May 7, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415908531
• ISBN-13: 978-0415908535
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #849,061 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #100 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Nonfiction > Activism

More About the Author

Sarah Schulman is the author of fifteen books, including nine novels. Forthcoming is the hard cover edition of a new nonfiction book THE GENTRIFICATION OF THE MIND: WItness to a Lost Imagination by University of California Press, to be followed in Spring, 2012 by the paperback of TIES THAT BIND: Familial Homophobia and Its Consequences Then is Fall 2012, Duke University Press will publish ISRAEL/PALESTINE AND THE QUEER INTERNATIONAL. Most recently the paperback edition of her novel THE MERE FUTURE was published by Arsenal Pulp.Previous novels are THE CHILD, SHIMMER, EMPATHY, RAT BOHEMIA, PEOPLE IN TROUBLE, AFTER DELORE, GIRLS VISIONS AND EVERYTHING and THE SOPHIE HOROWITZ STORY. Her nonfiction titles are TIES THAT BIND: Familial Homophobia and Its Consequences, STAGESTRUCK:Theater, AIDS and the Marketing of Gay America, and MY AMERICAN HISTORY: Lesbian and Gay Life During the Reagan/Bush Years. A working playwright, her productions include: CARSON McCULLERS (published by Playscripts Ink), MANIC FLIGHT REACTION and the theatrical adaptation of Isaac Singer's ENEMIES, A LOVE STORY. As a screenwriter, her films include THE OWLS (co-written with director Cheryl Dunye)- Berlin Film Festival 2010, MOMMY IS COMING (co-written with director Cheryl Dunye)- Berlin Film Festival selection 2011, and she is co-producer with Jim Hubbard of his feature documentary UNITED IN ANGER: A History of ACT UP, which will premiere in Jan/Feb 2012.. SOPHIE, a film based on her 1984 novel, THE SOPHIE HOROWITZ STORY is being written and director by Claude Mangold and is currently in pre-production. As a journalist, her essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, and Interview. She has won a Guggenheim Fellowship in Playwrighting, a Fullbright in Judaic Studies, two American Library Association Book Awards, and is the 2009 recipient of the Kessler Prize for sustained contribution to LGBT studies. Sarah is Distinguished Professor at the City University of New York, College of State Island, a Fellow of the New York Institute for the Humanities at New York University. She is on the advisory board of the Center for Human Rights and Social Movements at Harvard's Kennedy School. She is the US coordinator of the first LGBT Delegation to Palestine. She lives in New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars American History Indeed, August 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: My American History: Lesbian and Gay Life During the Reagan/Bush Years (Paperback)

Schulman is right. This is American History. And since it's not in the textbooks, someone like Schulman has to put it out there in print.

Schulman writes passionately about gay and lesbian issues. About the Lower East Side. About AIDS. Schulman cares about her world and it shows in her writing. I enjoy her novels but her essays are where she shines. She's an incredible essayist and an inspiration to me.

Sarah - It's time for another edition of this book. As you wrote, this first book was Volume 1.