I have read many books about Harvey Milk . Hands down this is my favorite. Lillian Faderman, a brilliant historian who writes about the lives of gays and lesbians, did an excellent job of allowing us to see Harvey Milk as a charismatic, compassionate, skilled politician as well as a flawed human being. Although I knew a lot about Harvey's political life and the passion he brought to organizing for change I knew less about who he was as a person and the flaws and struggles he brought to the table. This makes me appreciate him even more since he was able to use all that he had, good and bad, to take risks and help others to take those risks too.
I came out to my parents a few days before Harvey Milk was shot. It was shocking and frightening but as I watched the people of San Francisco mourn and love each other and fight when his murderer was found guilty I knew that I had just witnessed a community take more power and also, do as Harvey Milk did; make change, have fun and come out.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book and give it an honest review

A well-researched and detailed biography of a complex man, engaging, accessible and balanced. I enjoyed the first half more than the second, as some of Milk’s later political exploits weren’t as interesting for me as his earlier and more personal life, but overall I found this an excellent biography which I heartily recommend.

This was such a good book! I think it appeals to both those who know much about Harvey Milk, as well as to those who know very little.

I found it very interesting that Milk felt he hadn’t accomplished much until his 40’s, so he made a point of standing up for the things and people that were important to him. This book wasn’t all sunshine, as it mentioned Harvey’s flaws with brutal honesty. That’s the sign of a good biography to me.

I would definitely recommend this book to friends.

Harvey Milk His Lives and Death by Lillian Faderman (included in The Yale University Jews Lives Series) does wonderfully suceed in bringing Harvey Milk vividly to life. Her book is not just a factual biography of a man who helped changed the world but a very good account of what it meant in his pre-San Francisco days to be a homosexual who felt she or he had to keep their sexuality a secret, from parents, employers, landlords and a society where to indulge in homosexual acts was a crime.

In his younger days, maybe up to thirty, Milk acted the part of a straight young man, he was very into sports and even joined the Navy. Milk as soon as he had sexual feelings, knew he was Gay. He began sexual activity around 15. He lived in the pre-AIDS era, there was little danger in his activity. As he got older he developed a series of relationships. Often his partners were younger men in need of a guidance. He got a very good job on Wall Street but he never really liked it. He moved to Texas for a while before ending up in San Fransisco where in March 1973 he opened Castro Camera. In 1973 there were strict heavily enforced laws against homosexual activity. Oral sex was a crime for anyone.

Faderman does a wonderful job showing us how Castro Camera came to informal headquarters for elements of Gay San Francisco. Milk caught the political bug, he ran for supervisor two times before he won. Faderman explains the various elements in Gay political Life in San Francisco, it was interestingly fragmented. We learn a lot about the electoral process. Once elected Milk pushes hard for the passage of laws to help not just Gays, but the elderly, poorer residents and for very laudable quality of life issues. (Back in 1973 property costs had not yet driven out all but the most affluent.)

I dont want to go over how he died.

I am really glad I read this book. Faderman has a very interesting discussion of the part his Jewish roots influenced him.




Mel u
The Reading Life

i really wanted to love this book, but i didnt, it wasnt bad but just slow, as someone who wanted to find out more about milk, i did get quite far into this book but gave up. 2/5 stars sorry! thank you for the opportunity to read this book

I received this as a ARC from NetGalley.

I didn't feel like this added much that was not already covered in Randy Shilts' The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk, but I appreciated how readable Lillian Faderman's books always are. Her books are always very well researched and cited and she makes it read like popular nonfiction.

I also appreciated the full story of Galen McKinley being told. I stumbled upon the story of his life while processing the Tom O'Horgan Papers and it's a story that has never left me. He's mentioned like twice in Shilts' book but in Faderman's book you get a more complete story of Galen and his importance in both O'Horgan and Harvey's lives.