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Gay New York

Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940

Audiobook (Includes supplementary content)
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
The award-winning, field-defining history of gay life in New York City in the early to mid-20th century
Gay New York brilliantly shatters the myth that before the 1960s gay life existed only in the closet, where gay men were isolated, invisible, and self-hating. Drawing on a rich trove of diaries, legal records, and other unpublished documents, George Chauncey constructs a fascinating portrait of a vibrant, cohesive gay world that is not supposed to have existed. Called "monumental" (Washington Post), "unassailable" (Boston Globe), "brilliant" (The Nation), and "a first-rate book of history" (The New York Times), Gay New Yorkforever changed how we think about the history of gay life in New York City, and beyond.
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  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      George Chauncey's seminal history of gay male culture in New York City from 1890-1940, originally published on the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, makes its audiobook debut. Narrator Graham Halstead's well-modulated performance is a perfect fit for Chauncey's accessible scholarship. Misconceptions regarding the character of pre-WWII gay identity and community are dispelled, revealing social complexities and internal dynamics. Listeners traverse 1890s resorts, Harlem drag balls, and the Greenwich Village club scene, as well as street life and residences. Individual remembrances are denoted by Halstead through a slight change in pitch and energy. Chauncey contextualizes the evolution of social mores through multiple lenses, including race, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and gender. This solid production is accompanied by a pdf identifying referenced material. J.R.T. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 2, 1994
      Mining oral histories, diaries, police records, newspaper reports, etc., University of Chicago historian Chauncey here re-creates the prototypical pre-WW II gay community in New York City, which participated actively in the city's social and cultural life, until restrictive legislation forced it underground. Chauncey takes us on a tour of gay enclaves ranging from the Bowery's ``degenerate resorts,'' where effeminate ``fairies'' openly mingled with working-class heterosexuals, to Harlem's celebrated drag balls and Broadway's (plus publishing row's) ``pansy craze.'' Chauncey's deft charting of racial and class-divided clusters within the gay community itself is deepened with myth-shattering insights into shifting heterosexual attitudes toward gays, as well as transitions in their own self-perceptions. The impact made by this richly textured study is powerful.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 22, 1995
      Chauncey reconstructs New York's pre-WWII gay community, revealing a group that was deeply involved in the city's social and cultural scenes.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:1720
  • Text Difficulty:12

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