Secret Historian by Justin Spring
2010 National Book Award Finalist for Nonfiction
Drawn from the secret, never-before-seen diaries, journals, and sexual records of the novelist, poet, and university professor Samuel M. Steward, Secret Historian is a sensational reconstruction of one of the more extraordinary hidden lives of the twentieth century. An intimate friend of Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, and Thornton Wilder, Steward maintained a secret sex life from childhood on, and documented these experiences in brilliantly vivid (and often very funny) detail. After leaving the world of academe to become Phil Sparrow, a tattoo artist on Chicago's notorious South State Street, Steward worked closely with Alfred Kinsey on his landmark sex research. During the early 1960s, Steward changed his name and identity once again, this time to write exceptionally literate, upbeat pro-homosexual pornography under the name of Phil Andros. Until today he has been known only as Phil Sparrow--but an extraordinary archive of his papers, lost since his death in 1993, has provided Justin Spring with the material for an exceptionally compassionate and brilliantly illuminating life-and-times biography. More than merely the story of one remarkable man, Justin Spring's Secret Historian is a moving portrait of homosexual life long before Stonewall and gay liberation.Justin Spring is the author of numerous monographs, catalogs, museum publications, and books on twentieth-century American art and culture, including Fairfield Porter: A Life in Art and Paul Cadmus: The Male Nude.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780374281342 |
| ISBN 10 | 0374281343 |
| Title | Secret Historian |
| Author | Justin Spring |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc |
| Year published | 2010-08-17 |
| Number of pages | 478 |
| Prizes | Winner of Lambda Literary Awards (Gay Memoir/Biography) 2010, Winner of Lambda Literary Awards (Gay Memoir/Biography) 2011, Winner of Triangle Awards (Gay Nonfiction) 2011, Runner-up for Literary Award (Biography) 2011, Commended for National Book Awards (Nonfiction) 2010 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |