Travels in a Gay Nation: Portraits of LGBTQ Americans (Living Out: Gay and Lesbian Autobiog) [Paperback]

Philip Gambone (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 2010 | Series: Living Out: Gay and Lesbian Autobiog

For two years, Philip Gambone traveled the length and breadth of the United States, talking candidly with LGBTQ people about their lives. In addition to interviews from David Sedaris, George Takei, Barney Frank, and Tammy Baldwin, Travels in a Gay Nation brings us lesser-known voices—a retired Naval officer, a transgender scholar and “drag king,” a Princeton philosopher, two opera sopranos who happen to be lovers, an indie rock musician, the founder of a gay frat house, and a pair of Vermont garden designers.
    In this age when contemporary gay America is still coming under attack, Gambone captures the humanity of each individual. For some, their identity as a sexual minority is crucial to their life’s work; for others, it has been less so, perhaps even irrelevant. But, whether splashy or quiet, center-stage or behind the scenes, Gambone’s subjects have managed—despite facing ignorance, fear, hatred, intolerance, injustice, violence, ridicule, or just plain indifference—to construct passionate, inspiring lives.

 

Finalist, Foreword Magazine’s Anthology of the Year

Outstanding Book in the High School Category, selected by the American Association of School Libraries

Best Book in Special Interest Category, selected by the Public Library Association

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* For this collection of 40 interviews, Gambone traveled the nation for two years, talking with LGBTQ people to repudiate a “portrait of our community that . . . is often a sadly impoverished one” and “to open up a wider panorama than the tiny, cramped window that currently looks out onto LGBTQ America.” Comic Kate Clinton, interested in occupying “the radical middle” of the sociopolitical spectrum when interviewed in 1993, has reflected and encouraged change in this country with her increasingly political material; she regards what she does as “a sacred opportunity.” National Book Award–winning poet Mark Doty explores and expands his main themes of exile and loss in poems that “confront the . . . way things unravel, dissolve” and recently includes gay content that doesn't necessarily take center stage; he dislikes the notion that there's a right way to write gay: “We did not go through a great struggle for liberation . . . for someone to tell us how to be gay.” Further interviews with politicians Barney Frank and Hillary Goodridge (a major force in legalizing same-sex marriage in Massachusetts), with Stephin Merritt, “the Sondheim of indie rock,” and with more than 30 others blow fresh air through that big picture window of Gambone's. --Whitney Scott

Review

“This collection of interviews with gay activists and artists is like going to dinner with people you’d love to know but don’t, and Phil Gambone is the perfect stand-in for the reader: impressively prepared, sympathetic, and smart.”—Andrew Holleran, author of Grief: A Novel

“By asking good questions and really listening, Philip Gambone opens an illuminating window into the minds, hearts, and guts of a fabulous array of extraordinary Americans. At this critical time in America’s decades-long movement toward LGBTQ equality, you really shouldn’t miss this view.”—Will Fellows, author of Farm Boys: Lives of Gay Men from the Rural Midwest

"Gambone is a smart interviewer with a laid-back, engaging style, and he knows how to bring out the most interesting qualities of his subjects. He clearly admires them all and makes us admire them, too. . . . An eclectic front-to-back reading experience."—Library Journal

“This collection of rainbow-hued recollections is a must-read for anyone curious about other people's coming out experiences and the complex struggles that brought them to where they are today.”—Bay Area Reporter

“Gambone traveled the country for two years to bring the stories of gay artists, activists, and everyday queer folk to light through interviews that are candid, honest, and down-to-earth; his thoughtfully crafted questions, deep and respectful listening, and masterful storytelling skills highlight what gay America has in common with straight America, and what it is that makes the LGBTQ community decidedly different. . . . Travels in a Gay Nation: Portraits of LGBTQ Americans is an engaging, moving, entertaining, and informative introduction to and affirmation of LGBTQ citizens who, in spite of the injustice, fear, inequality, and intolerance that they face on a daily basis, manage to create lives filled with passion, color, creativity, and service.”—ForeWord

“Reading Philip Gambone’s new book of profiles, Travels in a Gay Nation: Portraits of LGBTQ Americans, is like watching a really good, really gay Barbara Walters Most Fascinating People special. Gambone delivers his subjects’ backstories, where they are now, a sense of what makes them tick, and sometimes, just like Walters, he gets tears. . . . Though Gambone’s writing is vivid, compassionate, and concise, what really comes across in Travels is how easy he is to talk to. ”—Advocate

“A thread of activism and universal accounts of coming out run through all the entries, but what really sparkles is the individuality of the interviewees.”—Pride Source

“Whether famous or relatively unknown, the portraits Gambone unveils in Travels in a Gay Nation move, surprise, quite often inspire, and are always deeply human.”—The Boston Spirit

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 308 pages
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press; 1 edition (June 30, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0299236846
• ISBN-13: 978-0299236847
• Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 5.8 x 8.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,240,200 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #71 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Travel
  • #85 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Biographies & Memoirs > Transgender

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Diverse group of interesting activists/artists in our community speak out July 10, 2010

By Bob Lind TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

Most books featuring interviews of "noteworthy" LGBTQ individuals tend to focus on the same people over and over again, the best-known activists and "movers and shakers" in our community, whom most of us have heard about but can't really relate to on a personal level. Gambone's book is different, as he puts together forty interesting interviews with an incredibly diverse group of individuals, ranging from politicians and actors, to authors, composers, artists, and organizers, of varied disciplines and focus. You'll hear from Barney Frank and David Sedaris, but also from George ("Star Trek") Takei, comedian Kate Clinton, author/cartoonist Alison Bechdel and many others.

I also like his style in each interview, in just providing the initial question, and then pretty much letting the subject steer the boat from there. I learned some interesting tidbits about one of my favorite authors, Scott Heim, and got some new background info on the Massachusetts gay marriage fight from people who were involved in it daily. Reading each of the interviews, which average about 7 pages each, is like meeting a new friend. Very enlightening and enjoyable, and I give the book a full five stars out of five.

- Bob Lind, Echo Magazine

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent collection of LGBT stories about activism, the arts, and living. May 20, 2012

By S

Format:Paperback

I stumbled upon this empowering book by chance and I'm very glad that I did. I enjoyed the diversity of the people that Gambone interviewed. He examined many different perspectives on LGBT issues, making the book readable by people of all orientations and backgrounds. These are stories of real people and how they have established themselves and/or made headway for LGBT equality in their own ways. I found myself jotting down notes of LGBT books, films, and organizations that I had never heard of and wanted to look into. Some of the people are well-known, like David Sedaris and Tammy Baldwin. Others are less-known, but their stories are just as tremendous. I highly recommend it.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Book June 6, 2010

By Sholeh Joon

Format:Paperback

The diversity of the interviewees featured, is the most impressive aspect of this book. Phil Gambone's writing is brilliant. This is a must read for all Americans. I hope this book helps lessen the prejudice and bigotry out there!