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Outlaw Marriages: The Hidden Histories of Fifteen Extraordinary Same-Sex Couples
For more than a century before gay marriage became a hot-button political issue, same-sex unions flourished in America. Pairs of men and pairs of women joined together in committed unions, standing by each other “for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health” for periods of thirty or forty—sometimes as many as fifty—years. In short, they loved and supported each other e...more
Hardcover, 224 pages
Published
May 15th 2012
by Beacon Press
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As some others have said, I really wanted to enjoy this book much more than I did, and I feel a little cheated that I didn't. It had a great topic, the couples included were diverse and interesting, the sketches were very readable, etc.
Perhaps I'm too finicky, but I was immediately distracted and annoyed by the footnote indicators, of all things. I read the Kindle edition of the book and the footnote numbers were the same size as the text, something I've never before encountered. When the first...more
Perhaps I'm too finicky, but I was immediately distracted and annoyed by the footnote indicators, of all things. I read the Kindle edition of the book and the footnote numbers were the same size as the text, something I've never before encountered. When the first...more
This was a truly fascinating book! I just happened to see it displayed at the library and picked it up and I'm so glad I did.
Every chapter of the book discusses a homosexual "marriage" throughout history and the contributions made by one of both of the individuals involved in the relationship. Some of the influential people discussed in the book were Walt Whitman (my favorite poet), Jane Addams, Gertrude Stein, Greta Garbo, Tennessee Williams, James Baldwin, and Audre Lorde just to name a few. I...more
Every chapter of the book discusses a homosexual "marriage" throughout history and the contributions made by one of both of the individuals involved in the relationship. Some of the influential people discussed in the book were Walt Whitman (my favorite poet), Jane Addams, Gertrude Stein, Greta Garbo, Tennessee Williams, James Baldwin, and Audre Lorde just to name a few. I...more
With some couples, the match is powerful enough that the two people influence, strengthen and invigorate each other's work into something far beyond what each could do alone. This is fifteen brief biographical sketches of pairs--from Ned Warren and John Marshall to Ismail Merchant and James Ivory who became power couples in their fields--not surprisingly, while being famous, they also go on vacations, dote on pets, argue, collect stuff, take in relatives, buy houses, sit at each other's hospital...more
#bookreview #nonfiction #history
“Outlaw Marriages: The Hidden Histories of Fifteen Extraordinary Same-Sex Couples” by Rodger Streitmatter caught my eye because it offered insight into the private life of Gertrude Stein, whom I have always been interested in. But this book is a whole lot more than just a few literary lives. It spotlights couples that were instrumental in social change, education, art, interior decorating, journalism, and a whole lot more. Aside from their outlaw marriages, the c...more
“Outlaw Marriages: The Hidden Histories of Fifteen Extraordinary Same-Sex Couples” by Rodger Streitmatter caught my eye because it offered insight into the private life of Gertrude Stein, whom I have always been interested in. But this book is a whole lot more than just a few literary lives. It spotlights couples that were instrumental in social change, education, art, interior decorating, journalism, and a whole lot more. Aside from their outlaw marriages, the c...more
Outlaw looks at 15 couples during a time when being gay was against the law. Several of the couples had one person famous and the other partner was muse and or caretaker to his or her famous spouse. That was the case with Walt Whitman and his beloved streetcar conductor Peter Doyle who was much younger than the great poet. Doyle was Whitman’s muse when he wrote Leaves of Grass. Greta Garbo was outraged when her partner and social and career advisor Mercedes do Acosta published a memoir of their...more
Feb 07, 2012
Djinnjer
marked it as abandoned
I want to like this book more than I do. The profiled couples are interesting. The writing style, on the other hand, is very plain, almost perfunctory, with some repetitiveness in the descriptions and largely lacking in complex sentences. I've read about three of the fifteen couples, but don't think I'll finish the book before the digital ARC expires.
Honestly, I'm wondering if maybe I'm just not cut out for biographies. (The section on Whitman and Doyle makes me interested in reading Whitman's p...more
Honestly, I'm wondering if maybe I'm just not cut out for biographies. (The section on Whitman and Doyle makes me interested in reading Whitman's p...more
This was a quick read, and as structured really couldn't be an in-depth look at any of the 15 couples profiled. That's really it's downfall--a focus on a few couples with a more in-depth profile would have been more interesting to me. In addition, this suffered from some poor writing, as the author often used epithets to describe his subjects ("the younger man, the taller man"). Regardless, introduced me to a number of people I would not previously have known about, and has added more to my to-b...more
I found this in my library's e-book database. I was looking for something immediately available, and this was the best looking thing I found. I really enjoyed this book a lot. It was like mini-biographies of some very interesting and important figures of 20th century art/writers/activism that were (for the most part) totally unfamiliar to me.
It was super interesting to see the common threads in the stories, and the large role partners played in their professional successes. I was surprised by h...more
It was super interesting to see the common threads in the stories, and the large role partners played in their professional successes. I was surprised by h...more
a great read about folks who paved the way for the accessibility of equality that we are achieving today, even though none were what one would consider "activists." I was struck, though, by how [with a few notable exceptions] it was societal privilege that allowed these couples to form and live their outlaw marriages. Of course it is generally the wealthy and influential whose lives are documented, but it would be interesting to see how outlaw marriages worked or if they did at all for folks low...more
I found some of the unions very interesting, but wished there were more instantly familiar names--a couple of these while interesting were names I was little familiar with. I also found it interesting how many partnerships/marriages were dominated by one partner. However, this book was a mite dry and I got little sense of the personalities behind these outlaw unions.
Compilation of several same sex couples, one of which was famous, all of which are deceased now. No present day couples in the book. Written by gay man which is awesome. The book read like a textbook, very formulaic. Each chapter told a bit about where they were born. What jobs they had. How they met. How they influenced one another in their work and emotional well being. How one helped the other become famous. How they aged, fell ill and died and whether the partner was mentioned in obituary. G...more
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Pretty good though the stories seemed oversimplified and didn't necessarily contextualize each couples relationship with what was going on in society (which would have had an influence on their relationship). However, this might not have been possible to do without doubling the length book.
Very interesting brief sketches of several same-sex partnerships that influenced somepart of American culture. I liked it, they were short but very informative like a series of newspaper articles. They could have been tighter and sharper but I enjoyed in nonetheless.
20 out of50 yr.
20 out of50 yr.
Delightful read with stories of 15 same-sex couples in the U.S. over the past 150 years. As the title indicates, these are not couples that lived down the street, but are ones that played prominent roles in arts, education or business. Streitmatter extensively researched his subjects in many sources and succinctly relates the early background of each person, their encounter with each other and the development (and sometimes demise) of their relationship. Of course, this all happens before the em...more
I borrowed this from the library at the school where I work. A great read and a good resource for our LGBT collection. Most of the couples profiled are American and were born in the last 150 years so I wish he had of included some couples from other countries and from a wider time frame.
I am glad I read this book although the writing was not as compelling as would have liked. The stories were well researched but the people did not come alive. I hoped for more. I appreciate the information that the author shared.
Rather disappointing. The writing was dry, repetitive, and journalistic, and fell into some uncomfortable "older man/younger man" descriptions. Couples selected were all interesting however, and the extensive source noting would make this a good book for someone just starting a research project.
This was like reading a bunch of short stories. Interesting and worth checking out at the library. It is a G rated version of some pretty remarkable people.
I knew of a couple of these extraordinary same-sex couples, but most I had never heard of before. I found them fascinating, and I find this book a gem.
I got this from my library for my e-reader just because it was availabe and looked interesting.
I am a biography freak and cannot put this down!
I am a biography freak and cannot put this down!
Great reading. Learn things you never knew. The back side of the famous.
not the most sharply-written thing ever, but interesting and informative.
Fascinating short essays about some really interesting couples.
Review soon @ thefaeryromanticlibrarian.blogspot.com
Although I found the term "Outlaw Marriage" a little odd, the book was fascinating.
I loved that each chapter began with the picture of the couple, and the description later of how difficult it was to find those photos.
a bit redundant....but such an interesting topic!
4 1/2 stars Review coming.
Really interesting book!
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Rodger Streitmatter is a journalist and cultural historian whose work explores how the media have helped to shape American culture. He is currently a professor in the School of Communication at American University.
More about Rodger Streitmatter...
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