On Being Different: What It Means to Be a Homosexual (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Merle Miller (Author), Charles Kaiser (Afterword), Dan Savage (Foreword)

Book Description

Release date: September 25, 2012 | Series: Penguin Classics

The groundbreaking work on being homosexual in America—available again only from Penguin Classics and with a new foreword by Dan Savage

Originally published in 1971, Merle Miller’s On Being Different is a pioneering and thought-provoking book about being homosexual in the United States. Just two years after the Stonewall riots, Miller wrote a poignant essay for the New York Times Magazine entitled “What It Means To Be a Homosexual” in response to a homophobic article published in Harper’s Magazine. Described as “the most widely read and discussed essay of the decade,” it carried the seed that would blossom into On Being Different—one of the earliest memoirs to affirm the importance of coming out.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Forty years after Miller’s article and book his eloquent voice is still poignant, still relevant to the ongoing struggle, our struggle for dignity and equal rights.”

(Jonathan Ned Katz, Founder, Co-Director, OutHistory.org )

“Forty years later, the story Miller tells remains important and necessary to read, not only for both gay and straight readers to understand ‘the way it used to be,’ but because the issues Miller raised are still being discussed and argued about.”

(Nancy Pearl )

“Merle Miller’s On Being Different is a searing indictment of social hypocrisy, written with a quite but burning passion… This book is not only a valuable historical document about the gay civil rights movement, but it is an American classic because of the beauty it achieves through its unflinchingly honest portrayal of the raw pain of rejection.”

(David Carter, author Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution )

“Without indulging in sensationalism or special pleading but making it clear that he was writing directly from his own experience, [Miller] bridged the gap between the ‘straights’ and the ‘gays’ in a way that few recent writers on the subject have done. He also put himself on the line as a well-known writer, who was not afraid to publicly acknowledge his homosexuality.”

(Publishers Weekly )

“Brilliant, moving, and one is obliged to add, courageous narrative of personal homosexuality.”

(James A. Wechsler, columnist )

About the Author

Merle Miller (1919–1986) was an editor at Harper’s Magazine, Time, and the Nation, and was the bestselling author of several books, including the novel A Gay and Melancholy Sound and Plain Speaking, a biography of President Harry Truman.

Dan Savage is the internationally syndicated columnist of “Savage Love” and the author of several books. With his husband Terry Miller, he cofounded the It Gets Better project and edited the It Gets Better collection.

Charles Kaiser is an author, journalist, and blogger. His books include 1968 in America and The Gay Metropolis, which was a New York Times Book Review Notable Book. He lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics; Reissue edition (September 25, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0143106961
• ISBN-13: 978-0143106968
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #296,871 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Merle Miller was born on May 17, 1919 in Montour, Iowa, and grew up in Marshalltown, Iowa. He attended the University of Iowa and the London School of Economics. He joined the US. Army Air Corps during World War II, where he worked as an editor of Yank. His best-known books are his biographies of three presidents: Plain Speaking: An Oral History of Harry Truman, Lyndon: An Oral Biography, and Ike the Soldier: As They Knew Him. His novels include That Winter, The Sure Thing, Reunion, A Secret Understanding, A Gay and Melancholy Sound, What Happened, Island 49, and A Day in Late September. He also wrote We Dropped the A-Bomb, The Judges and the Judged, Only You, Dick Daring!, about his experiences writing a television pilot for CBS starring Barbara Stanwyck and Jackie Cooper, and On Being Different, an expansion of his 1971 article for the The New York Times Magazine entitled "What It Means to Be a Homosexual." He died in 1986. In 2012 two of Miller's book were reissued: A Gay and Melancholy Sound and On Being Different. Check out more information on www.onbeingdifferent.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Still as important as when I read it at 13 September 28, 2012

By Mark M

Format:Paperback

I stole this book from the local bookstore in Elkhart, Indiana, when it was new and I was 13 years old. The only reading material besides it available to me were books I ordered from the Psychology Today Book Club and that my mother eventually discovered. I distinctly remember hiding it under my jacket, probably an army jacket, which was still a fashionable item with young hippies just past the end of the hippie era. Along with Patricia Nell Warren's iconic 1974 novel `The Front Runner`, it was one of those two or three books that helped me make it through. It deserves to be remembered and I can't be happier to see it being offered again to a world very different, yet in many ways the same, as when Mr. Miller first published this book. I needed him and his book all those years ago, and they were there. Bravo. Mark/lgbtSr

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for any gay person's library! October 27, 2012

By Bob Lind TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

Climb into your literary "time capsule," and journey back to a time when the Stonewall uprising was still a topic of discussion, and Patricia Nell Warren was about to release a groundbreaking gay romance novel called "The Front Runner."

Originally an essay in New York Times Magazine in 1971, "On Being Different" was one of the first books that specifically addressed being gay in (then) modern America, addressing the homophobic stereotypes of that era, as depicted in magazine articles and films of the day. It also provided insight into the work of the Gay Activist Alliance (GAA), a group that began the fight for equal civil rights that - sadly - continue now, more than forty years later.

In this reissue edition, the foreword by Dan Savage and the afterword by Charles Kaiser put the late author's work into perspective, as something that has affected their own work as gay authors and activists. An important and vital addition to your library. Five stars out of five.

- Bob Lind, Echo Magazine

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting look at modern LGBT history November 4, 2012

By Michael Kazarnowicz

Format:Kindle Edition

A short and quick read, it gives a good perspective on the progress of LGBT acceptance in the US. The essay in itself is very interesting, and reading the additional comments and stories adds a lot. Being gay, I'm versed in LGBT history but this book was still worth the while. I'd definitely recommend anyone to read this to get an insight. Much better than The Cross in the Closet, a book with similar aspirations that I read just after this.