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virginia-classifieds.net - The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk
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List Price: $16.95
Our Price: $10.53
Your Save: $ 6.42 ( 38% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 320
EAN: 9780312560850
ISBN: 0312560850
Label: St. Martin's Griffin
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 400
Publication Date: 2008-10-14
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: 2008-10-14
Studio: St. Martin's Griffin
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Free at Last
Comment: Amazing performance by Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected politician in America. I bought this book after reading Dennis Schleicher's autobiography. Forbidden Love with a Married Man: E-mail Diaries I was so poignantly moved by his horrific gay bashing that occurred in 1989 at his public high school. Today when I spoke with the author of for the first time on the phone. Dennis started to get emotional as he said "Stephenie, I would have given anything to have had the opportunity to attend. Mr. Milk's school after falling prey to a gay bashing. That was caused by ignorance. The ignorance of other children, not understanding that sexuality is not a choice. It is people like Harvey Milk that give myself the courage to share my memoir a tell my story that many others would be scared to share."
I Stephenie Meyer's (Author) am now declaring it my mission to help stop Hate Crimes through educating the masses on courageous authors like Randy Skilts of "The Mayor of Castro Street," & Dennis Schleicher "Forbidden Love with a Married Man; E-Mail Diaries," both these authors are ahead of their time in telling stories that need to be heard that will have an impact in our society.
Schleicher said my next book that's a MUST read is; "Prayers for Bobby," by Leroy Aarons. Prayers for Bobby: A Mother's Coming to Terms with the Suicide of Her Gay Son It is about time I use my success as a best-selling author to give back to the community. Tomorrow I will have my literary agent looking to writing an article for "Out Magazine" or the "Advocate," on these 3 courageous authors.
Stephenie Meyer "Best-Selling Author"
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Times of Harvey Milk
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Remembering Harvey Milk
Comment: Shilts, Randy. "The Mayor of Castro Street", St. Martin's, 2008.
Remembering Harvey Milk
Amos Lassen
Harvey Milk is an icon in gay history and now with the film, Milk" with an amazing performance by Sean Penn, there is a renewed interest in the man that did so much to advance gay rights. St. Martin's has reissued Randy Shilts' biography of Milk, "The Mayor of Castro Street", which is a remarkable study of Milk as well as social history and a look at the world of politics. The book is not only a powerful character study but a fascinating history of the California gay movement and an intense look at city politics.
Before he was even elected to political office, Harvey Milk was known as the mayor of Castro Street. Shilts takes a look at Milk's personal and political life and his assassination and these reflect the mood of gay America and the real beginning of the emergence of gay rights and the road to gay political power. Here is a history of personal tragedy and political intrigue, of rioting in the streets and how justice was miscarried. However more than that, this is the story of gay power and gay hope.
Randy Shilts always gives a good reading experience and it is too bad that he is no longer with us. "The Mayor of Castro Street" was his first book and he chose a great topic to begin his literary career. He looks at how we, as gay men, were treated in the 1940's and 50's, writes about what happened at Stonewall and then shifts the scene to San Francisco and the Castro, the California center of gay life during Milk's time. We learn of how Milk began his political quest and we feel his sense of humor and dramatics. There is a lot of information here and added plus is the author was once a friend of Harvey Milk which gives us a little more insight.
The book is episodic in nature and each episode begins with a tag line that leads into what was happening. The volume reads like a non-fiction novel as we get a chronology of the gay rights movement in 380 pages. Shilts also knew how to appeal to human emotion and there were instances when I read with tears in my eyes. Milk was an epic hero who lived a somewhat epic life but Shilts manages to let us know him as a simple man with a simple dream. Shilts also leaves no stone unturned and his research is meticulous--including his interviews with two of Milk's lovers.
Another interesting aspect is that even though Shilts and Milk were friends, the author is able to maintain objectivity throughout. His sense of detail is also wonderful and with that he draws the reader in and holds him. Shilts gives an honest and illuminating portrait of the champion of gay rights; one that should be read by any member of the community who wants to know where we were and how far we have come.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, raises some questions
Comment: The book contains a lot of information about Milk's life, which in itself is fascinating. My understanding is that Shilts was a friend of Milk's, which gives him insight (if biased) into the social circle of the Castro community.
The book's format is almost episodic, with each small section prefaced with an italicized tag line of sorts that leads into the story. It seems clear that this is a first effort at a book by Shilts, as some of the writing feels a little unpolished.
The big question is where the facts of the story end and the opinion begins. The book reads almost like a novel, and it's hard to tell if Shilts has added any of his own ideas about the behind-closed-doors aspects of Milk's life, whether he's repeating rumours he's heard, or whether the events are backed up by actual evidence.
Whether it's 100% true or not, it makes for a very compelling read.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A LEADER IN THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Comment: 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.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Known as “The Mayor of Castro Street” even before he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Harvey Milk’s personal life, public career, and final assassination reflect the dramatic emergence of the gay community as a political power in America. It is a story full of personal tragedies and political intrigues, assassinations at City Hall, massive riots in the streets, the miscarriage of justice, and the consolidation of gay power and gay hope.
Harvey Milk has been the subject of numerous books and movies, including the Academy Award–winning 1984 documentary, The Times of Harvey Milk. His life is also the basis of a 2008 major motion picture, Milk, starring Sean Penn.
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