- Paperback: 388 pages
- Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (14 Oct 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312560850
- ISBN-13: 978-0312560850
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 14.1 x 2.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 640,382 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Author Randy Shilts was a journalist before he became a best selling author ("And The Band Played On", "Conduct Unbecoming: Gays and Lesbians in the U.S. Military"). His chronicling of the life of Harvey Milk from New York to San Francisco bears witness to the everyman struggles of gay men of that period. From the arrests and harassments in bars to the ultimate victory of being the first gay man elected to United Sates office, Shilts details every aspect of Milk's life. People famous then and now supplied detailed information on the kind of human being that Harvey Milk truly was. (Mind you, this book was written in the early eighties).
Told in a quickly paced and unrelentingly thorough style, Shilts shows how an ordinary man like Milk can make a global change (all after age forty). Milk did this before he was assassinated, making his story all the more intriguing, tragic and poetic. The recent Gus Van Sant film does a great service to the novel, but Shilts is the one that truly gets under the skin of Harvey Milk and displays a man full of integrity, conviction and humility. In his reporter's style, Shilts also describes Milk's associates, friends and coworkers, pulling together the fabric of a life cut far too short. Of course, see the film and the documentary, but read this book to truly comprehend how an ordinary man can turn into a hero for not just a minority, but also any underdog.
Told in a quickly paced and unrelentingly thorough style, Shilts shows how an ordinary man like Milk can make a global change (all after age forty). Milk did this before he was assassinated, making his story all the more intriguing, tragic and poetic. The recent Gus Van Sant film does a great service to the novel, but Shilts is the one that truly gets under the skin of Harvey Milk and displays a man full of integrity, conviction and humility. In his reporter's style, Shilts also describes Milk's associates, friends and coworkers, pulling together the fabric of a life cut far too short. Of course, see the film and the documentary, but read this book to truly comprehend how an ordinary man can turn into a hero for not just a minority, but also any underdog.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
20 reviews
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
A LEADER IN THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
29 Nov 2008
Format:Paperback
Randy Shilts was a great writer, his books are always a good read. This was his first, and perhaps best book. It tells the story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected politician in America. I bought this book after reading the reviews of "Milk," the new movie starring Sean Penn as Harvey Milk. It's a good history of how gay men were treated in America in the 1940's and 1950's, tells about Stonewall, then moves to San Francisco and the Castro, when Harvey Milk does.The Castro grew up around the time Harvey Milk first came here, started his camera store and ran for City Supervisor. Milk comes across as someone with compassion and a clear vision of what city governement should do, but also someone with a wicked sense of humor, and a sense of theatre, which makes it a fun read. He really comes alive in this book. The book goes through his assasination by a former police officer, Dan White, the candlelight procession after his death, the trial of Dan White, and subsequent "White Night Riots." A must read for anyone interested in the gay rights movement.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
A Man Without Fear
6 Jan 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Author Randy Shilts was a journalist before he became a best selling author (And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, 20th-Anniversary Edition, Conduct Unbecoming: Gays and Lesbians in the U.S. Military). His chronicling of the life of Harvey Milk from New York to San Francisco bears witness to the everyman struggles of gay men of that period. From the arrests and harassments in bars to the ultimate victory of being the first gay man elected to United Sates office, Shilts details every aspect of Milk's life. People famous then and now supplied detailed information on the kind of human being that Harvey Milk truly was. (Mind you, this book was written in the early eighties).
Told in a quickly paced and unrelentingly thorough style, Shilts shows how an ordinary man like Milk can make a global change (all after age forty). Milk did this before he was assassinated, making his story all the more intriguing, tragic and poetic. The recent Gus Van Sant film does a great service to the novel, but Shilts is the one that truly gets under the skin of Harvey Milk and displays a man full of integrity, conviction and humility. In his reporter's style, Shilts also describes Milk's associates, friends and coworkers, pulling together the fabric of a life cut far too short. There is a great deal of inside information like Feinstein getting caught with a gun in her purse, Feinstein literally trying to keep Harvey Milk and Dan White away from each other on that fateful day and the bizarre fact that Harvey Milk recorded his obit 1 year and 9 days prior to his assassination. Of course, see the film and the documentary, but read this book to truly comprehend how an ordinary man can turn into a hero for not just a minority, but also any underdog.
Told in a quickly paced and unrelentingly thorough style, Shilts shows how an ordinary man like Milk can make a global change (all after age forty). Milk did this before he was assassinated, making his story all the more intriguing, tragic and poetic. The recent Gus Van Sant film does a great service to the novel, but Shilts is the one that truly gets under the skin of Harvey Milk and displays a man full of integrity, conviction and humility. In his reporter's style, Shilts also describes Milk's associates, friends and coworkers, pulling together the fabric of a life cut far too short. There is a great deal of inside information like Feinstein getting caught with a gun in her purse, Feinstein literally trying to keep Harvey Milk and Dan White away from each other on that fateful day and the bizarre fact that Harvey Milk recorded his obit 1 year and 9 days prior to his assassination. Of course, see the film and the documentary, but read this book to truly comprehend how an ordinary man can turn into a hero for not just a minority, but also any underdog.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
The Times of Harvey Milk
18 Dec 2008
Format:Paperback
For all the GLBT people in elected office, we should never forget Harvey Milk. Thankfully, this biography of Milk has just been reissued - after far too long - and now there's no excuse to not read it.
A sobering moment comes right at the beginning of this book with the author's foreword. Randy Shilts wrote his foreword in July of 1981, the same month that the New York Times reported on a strange new disease that was found in gay men. Shilts himself eventually died of AIDS. I found myself thinking about this as I read "Castro Street," wondering how Harvey Milk would have dealt with the AIDS crisis.
Both biography and cultural history, Shilts' book is a milestone. Coming out a few years before the Oscar winning documentary on Milk's life, "The Mayor of Castro Street" is the first complete telling about the man who became the first openly gay elected official in the United States. The 1970s were a time of huge changes in the gay community and Milk's election was a sign of the progress being made. It's a tragedy that it ended so quickly.
With the film about Milk's life coming out, this book is a great companion. Shilts' journalistic style is readable and, as another reviewer has stated, the book reads like a novel. This reprint includes all the photos that were part of the previous editions and, to put it bluntly, is a must read.
A sobering moment comes right at the beginning of this book with the author's foreword. Randy Shilts wrote his foreword in July of 1981, the same month that the New York Times reported on a strange new disease that was found in gay men. Shilts himself eventually died of AIDS. I found myself thinking about this as I read "Castro Street," wondering how Harvey Milk would have dealt with the AIDS crisis.
Both biography and cultural history, Shilts' book is a milestone. Coming out a few years before the Oscar winning documentary on Milk's life, "The Mayor of Castro Street" is the first complete telling about the man who became the first openly gay elected official in the United States. The 1970s were a time of huge changes in the gay community and Milk's election was a sign of the progress being made. It's a tragedy that it ended so quickly.
With the film about Milk's life coming out, this book is a great companion. Shilts' journalistic style is readable and, as another reviewer has stated, the book reads like a novel. This reprint includes all the photos that were part of the previous editions and, to put it bluntly, is a must read.
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