sashanovik's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
shelleyanderson4127's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
The only child of an unmarried Jewish immigrant, Faderman was raised in poverty. She wanted to be a movie star, but instead was drawn as a teenager into Hollywood's shady sex trade. She grabs a chance to study at university, financing her studies by working as a pin-up model and burlesque dancer.
Faderman is now a respected professor and renowned scholar. If you've never read her works on lesbian history like Surpassing the Love of Men, or Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers, you are in for a treat.
This memoir is clear, funny and powerful, and a loving tribute to her mother. Well worth a read.
Faderman is now a respected professor and renowned scholar. If you've never read her works on lesbian history like Surpassing the Love of Men, or Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers, you are in for a treat.
This memoir is clear, funny and powerful, and a loving tribute to her mother. Well worth a read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism and Homophobia
library_lurker's review
5.0
what an underrated gem this book is! it's a beautifully-written memoir, about growing up queer and poor and jewish in the 1940's and 50's. i really felt like i was there with faderman, in the seedy gay bars and pinup photography studios, all the way to her tenured-professor, partner-and-a-baby life of the 70's and 80's. ms. faderman has made a career of keeping gay/lesbian history alive, and her own personal history is definitely worth reading too. i couldn't put it down!
susiedoom's review
4.0
I knew Lillian Faderman only by her research, after reading a couple of her books on lesbian history during grad school. I had no idea how interesting her background is! It's such a treasure to hear Faderman's story in her own words. Queer lives are so often erased or only analyzed through a modern lens. In this memoir, Faderman describes her experience growing up in 1940s/50s New York and L.A. as a young lesbian, and her journey from trying to be a child star to performing as a burlesque star to becoming the lesbian historian she's known as today. I really enjoyed her story; so much was unexpected, and so much is still relevant today. I do wish some of the language around race, ethnicity, and class had been updated in this 2020 edition. But beyond that, it's a really valuable text, and I'm grateful for the chance to read it. Especially with the foreword from Carmen Maria Machado - it's worth buying for that alone!
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