The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk by Randy Shilts

Mar 10, 2010 Evan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history-americana, gay-interest, celebrity-famous-bio, politics, my-faves, 2009-reads

This is a fantastic book. I give it three stars for writing, four for reportage and five for being incredibly inspiring.

There were passages throughout that I wanted to mark and post here, but I didn't. The appendices include several superb speeches by Milk; the man was both a practical and philosophical adherent of making cities human. The book is not just about his on-the-ground life, but his ideas, too. And they were grand ideas, but always with a human face. Milk believed in humans, not just...more This is a fantastic book. I give it three stars for writing, four for reportage and five for being incredibly inspiring.

There were passages throughout that I wanted to mark and post here, but I didn't. The appendices include several superb speeches by Milk; the man was both a practical and philosophical adherent of making cities human. The book is not just about his on-the-ground life, but his ideas, too. And they were grand ideas, but always with a human face. Milk believed in humans, not just gay humans, but all humans.

Lest you think I treat him blindly as an icon, fret not. Milk was a con man to a degree, or at least a showman. He was a politician, but he was an individualist in a system that molds people into machine parts. He never quite became that cog. And yet, he left a great legacy.

Interestingly, the final third of the book takes place after Milk's death. The outrageous trial of the WASP assassin Dan White zeroes in on the carte blanche open-season on gays that society has managed to justify for so long. This is a book about Milk's "times", after all, as the book's title says, and as such it deeply examines the warped and sad attitudes of hate that did and do continue.

Reading this moved me to tears, but also made me hopping mad with outrage. A great biography about a great American hero.

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(earlier comment)

This seemed like a natural after finishing "The Celluloid Closet." So far, early in, it's an ultra-fascinating look at what it was like for an "All American boy" to grow up gay in the 1940s and 1950s in New York City and environs: the furtiveness and danger but also the rare joy of finding monogamous happiness in spite of the incredible obstacles.

I've seen the excellent 1984 documentary, "The Times of Harvey Milk" a couple of times; the first time more than 20 years ago. I haven't seen the Hollywood feature ("Milk") with Sean Penn yet; he certainly cuts a remarkable likeness to the real deal. The combination of fascinating topic, character and Shilts as author ("And the Band Played On" is one of my favorite epics of reportage) make this a no-brainer selection.
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Feb 15, 2010 Buck rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: All LGBT people

Shelves: gay-literature, biography-memoir

I thoroughly enjoyed this biography. Shilts manages to capture the spirit of Harvey Milk as well as the reality of him.

Beyond the biographical material, the background information in the book is invaluable to students of LGBT history. Milk's frequent tension with moderate Gays and moderate Liberals still echoes to this day.

The information on the 1977 Dade County ordinance repeal fight could be a handbook for exactly how the Prop 8 and Prop 102 campaigns were mismanaged in 2008 by the same moder...more

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Apr 07, 2009 Michael rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, politics

I initially became interested in reading this book after seeing the 2008 motion picture Milk. I ultimately decided to purchase and read the book after watching the 1984 documentary The Times Of Harvey Milk on YouTube. Both did an excellent job of providing insight into the life and times of Harvey Milk but I felt that in order to get the whole story I needed to read this book. I was not disappointed. The author did a superb job of not only detailing the particulars of Harvey Milk's life but also...more

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Feb 04, 2009 ellen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

After watching Milk, I realized there was a lot I didn't know about this time in history, even though I had seen the documentary in the mid-nineties and remember a paragraph or two from my American History book. I approached this book thinking it would be informative and somewhat dry, but was surprised at how in depth, accessible and fun to read it was. It's apparent that Shilts did a great deal of research and was able to get at Milk from many angles, which rounded him out as a figure -- Shilts...more

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Jun 17, 2009 Jacob rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2008-2009, queer, biography-memoirs-etc

Having recently watched both the documentary and the more recent film, I was curious to learn more about the life of Harvey Milk. This book provides it. The Mayor of Castro Street is a fascinating look into Milk’s life and all-too-short political career , as well as a detailed (and sad) history of gay rights in the Twentieth Century. Thirty years later, it’s humbling to see how far we’ve come--and how far we have yet to go.

Minor complaint: Since it was republished to tie-in with the 2008 film, I...more

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Dec 31, 2008 Stephy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: currently-reading-again

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 08, 2009 Kate rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone interested in city politics or political movements, gay issues

Recommended to Kate by: Sean Rowley, thanks for the suggestion!

Shelves: favoritereads

I loved the other book I read by gay journalist Randy Shilts, "And The Band Played On," so I knew "The Mayor of Castro Street" would be excellent. I was inspired to read it after seeing the movie "Milk."

It was very interesting to read about how Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay people to be elected to public office in this country, was essentially non-political and in the closet for much of his life. But he moves to San Fransisco jut as the city is being transformed by a flood of gay newc...more

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Jan 16, 2009 Scott rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk by Randy Shilts is by far one of the most remarkable books I have ever read. For those of you who have seen Sean Penn in Milk, the movie only provided glimpse into the complex man and the times he lived in. Randy Shilts goes beyond and tells not only of story of Harvey Milk but the rich history of the modern day GLBT movement.

The details of early homosexuality of how gay and lesbians were treated in San Francisco offer insight on a s...more The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk by Randy Shilts is by far one of the most remarkable books I have ever read. For those of you who have seen Sean Penn in Milk, the movie only provided glimpse into the complex man and the times he lived in. Randy Shilts goes beyond and tells not only of story of Harvey Milk but the rich history of the modern day GLBT movement.

The details of early homosexuality of how gay and lesbians were treated in San Francisco offer insight on a subject, which sadly I knew little about. Shilts attention to detail helps create a historical map of how things were, how they changed when Harvey arrived in San Francisco and the legacy he left behind after his murder. Harvey’s impact on society reached across this country and created a new found awareness for everyone in the GLBT movement.

As so many people have recently stated, it is an ironic twist that timing of the movie about Harvey’s life came out when it did. Reading The Mayor of Castro Street further reinforces this same notion. We live in society which just fought a major battle over Prop 8 in California, which banned homosexuals the equal right to marry. Harvey fought against Prop 6, which banned teachers, doctors and others, professionals if they were openly gay. Harvey preached of hope, as a nation we just elected a President who preached of change, hopefully this time around we get the message and it sticks.

There are so many things I could say about this incredible book but I will leave it on these two thoughts. It is rare that a book makes me cry. Like the movie, the section detailing the murder of Milk made me cry. It was one of those few instances, when you even though you know the outcome, you are compelled to pay attention to every detail as Shilts recreates them.

Finally, I think this an important book for everyone to read. Even if you don’t feel you are part of the GLBT community, like Harvey said, you got to give people hope. This book offers hope and hope that as a society we can better ourselves and the society we live in.
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Aug 25, 2010 John rated it 5 of 5 stars

In this book Randy Shilts tells the story of Harvey Milk and his path from a closeted gay man with conservative values (he supported Goldwater) who stumbled through a good part of his life without direction until he moved to San Francisco and found his calling in advocating for gay equality and striving toward his vision of a a time and place where gays and straights could coexist peacefully. Though most widely known for his gay advocacy he was a populist who, among other things, pushed for dist...more

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Jan 18, 2010 Allison Hepler added it

This biography was as much about the history of gay life (read: male) from the 1950s through 1980. Harvey Milk moved geographically and politically from an Esat coast banker to a West coast gay activist, and it reads like a very canny political "how to" book. After many failed elections, Milk was finally elected to San Francisco City Council, only to be assassinated, along with Mayor George Moscone, by former city official Dan White. The appalling aspect of this book, and the one less developed...more

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Dec 01, 2009 Grendelkhan added it

Harvey Milk was certainly a character. Profoundly imperfect, late-blooming in terms of involvement with the gay community... and absolutely irreplaceable in terms of gay history.

I first heard of Harvey Milk in terms of his absence, reading "And the Band Played On" by the same author, in which it was frequently lamented that the gay movement was without a leader in the wake of Milk's assassination.

Reading about the man himself, I was initially disappointed. He was hardly heroic in terms of his li...more

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Dec 26, 2008 Erik rated it 5 of 5 stars

I first remember watching the Academy Award winning documentary The Times of Harvey Milk back in the late 80s when I was in high school – surreptitiously, so that my parents wouldn’t notice (being the poor homophobes they were). And it astounded me then, as it still does today when I finished Shilts’ stunningly detailed biography, that Dan White got off on two manslaughter charges. The “Twinkie Defense” my posterior!

But getting back to my review.

The life of Harvey Milk is not nearly as dramatic...more I first remember watching the Academy Award winning documentary The Times of Harvey Milk back in the late 80s when I was in high school – surreptitiously, so that my parents wouldn’t notice (being the poor homophobes they were). And it astounded me then, as it still does today when I finished Shilts’ stunningly detailed biography, that Dan White got off on two manslaughter charges. The “Twinkie Defense” my posterior!

But getting back to my review.

The life of Harvey Milk is not nearly as dramatic and bizarre as the times in which he lived and ascended to the position of City Supervisor. (Okay, there was Jack Kira, his bi-polar alcoholic lover who killed himself. But that’s stands out as one of the few blots in Milk’s life.) While police harassment of gay bars and businesses was routine in most of America’s urban centers in the post-wars years (a time in which the gay community began to grow), it surprised me that the San Francisco police not only continued their barrage of intimidation during Harvey’s supervisor-ship, but – more strikingly – engaged in two head-to-head stand-offs with the angry gay community in days immediately following White’s manslaughter conviction.

Another shocking realization for me was learning just how sycophantic Dianne Feinstein – Supervisor-turned-Mayor after Moscone and Milk were assassinated – was towards big business and the conservative sensibilities of San Francisco’s seething right. Despite running on centrist and frequently liberal policies, Dianne’s inner homophobia became glaringly obvious when she expressed vocal reservations about the public display of leather – real or, for the most part, imagined. No surprise, the gay community lashed out with an equally vocal campaign to “Dump Diane.” And to think that this woman still represents the great State of California as one of its longest-serving senators. (Here’s hoping she’s re-grown a backbone.)

Shilts’ journalism background is in fine form here, which makes this one of the most captivating and readable biographies I’ve had the extreme pleasure to devour since David McCullough’s John Adams. (Although Gus Van Sant’s Milk is a much finer bio-pic than HBO’s recent adaptation of McCullough’s masterpiece, in my cinematic estimation.) Shilts artfully peppers his narrative with a wide cast of characters, and was privy to many private conversations and reflections that make their way into this well-researched and insightful work of writing. No surprise, Shilts later won great acclaim for And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic – a tome that I have yet to crack open. (But likely will, given how much enamored I am with The Mayor of Castro Street.)

Harvey still astounds, even after all these years. It may be a bit of a cliché to refer to him as the MLK of the gay community, but it’s an apt one. And those of us in Gay America who have come of age at the close of this last century owe him – and the unsung legions of gays and lesbians that came out of the closet -- our ever-lasting thanks.
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Feb 05, 2013 Kayloulee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In-progress review, about 2/3 through the book: This is really interesting and it's great to see how the movie meshes with the book that it was based upon. Turns out the movie - obviously - condensed a lot of Harvey Milk's life. It actually gives a great account of gay life in NYC and San Francisco in the mid-20th century, and expands on the gay political history of the USA. I deliberately say gay rather than LGBT because the author makes clear that Harvey Milk didn't really associate with any/m...more

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Dec 06, 2008 Michael rated it 5 of 5 stars

I had to read this book before the movie came out, and since it had been on the back burner of to-read books ever since I saw the documentary The Times of Harvey Milk in college nearly twenty years ago I picked it up. I think Shilts is an excellent journalist. He captures the scene of San Francisco and the repression of homosexual life at that time astonishingly well. Perhaps, because he himself is homosexual, Shilts is able to tap into the essence of Harvey Milk's inner character. I recommend r...more

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Jul 30, 2011 M.c. Kelley added it · review of another edition

I have to say this is probably one of the best biographical pieces I have ever read. This book is incredibly well written. It is emotionally charged, during some scenes I was quite moved. Harvey Milk was a brilliant and great man. This book truly does him justice. I enjoyed the thorough tracing of his entire life.

I would recommend this to anyone interested in LGBT rights, or in the politics of the 60's and 70's. It provides an interesting look at how the LGBT community demanded things early on...more

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Dec 02, 2009 Louis rated it 3 of 5 stars

After seeing the movie and the extras on the DVD of "Milk", I decided to read this book. Of course it added many more facts to the story that I was unaware of. The journalistic reporting style got to be a bit tiresome after a while.

The best part of the book were the photos and the appendices which contained Harvey Milk's speeches. He was quite an orator. The conclusion of the book seemed to be that if Harvey Milk had not existed, someone else would have filled that void eventually. I am not so...more

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May 26, 2013 Just.a.little.haiku rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

I had seen and enjoyed the movie Milk before reading this book, but I enjoyed the book even more immensely. Although there was overlap between the two, the book paints a much more complex picture of Harvey - he was imperfect, he was flawed, he was human. And yet, he was an inspiring spirit who accomplished so much in such a short period of time (Milk had only been in San Francisco for six years and had been in office for less than a year when he was assassinated). The book also really conveyed t...more

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Jan 20, 2009 Whitaker rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: gay, memoir-biography, 2009-read

Well-written biography of Harvey Milk. Shilts eschews the hagiographic approach adopted in the movie Milk to provide a more rounded view of Milk's life, his life's work and his legacy.

Shilts portrays Milk with all his fire and passion for life: both personal and political. We see his skill as a politician with an inate sense of theatre and of justice, who built a broad support base that included not just the gay population but small business, blue collar industry and other minority groups. We a...more

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Aug 03, 2009 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Loving it so far. It goes back earlier in his life than the movie did. He made quite a flip in his life--he used to be a super-closeted Republican investment banker, and went on to become pretty leftist, and one of the first openly gay elected officials in the country. It really makes you think about what a person can achieve in their life.

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Jan 13, 2009 Caitlin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: top-ten

The first time I came across Randy Shilts' name was in reference to his work on the book, And the Band Played On...: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, which was the first book to investigate and document the AIDS epidemic in the gay community. Randy Shilts, the first openly gay reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle, published this book in 1984, most likely finishing his research on the life and times of Harvey Milk before jumping headlong into a book about the disease which would event...more

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Oct 28, 2010 Lee Anne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Four and a half stars, really.

I don't remember if I watched the 1984 documentary The Times of Harvey Milk when I was in high school, maybe it aired on PBS, or when I was in college, and a pretentious film lover, maybe I rented it from Aardvark Video, the local pretentious film video store. Whenever it was, I loved the movie, and found Harvey Milk to be a fascinating, charismatic man.

Then, two years ago, when Gus Van Sant's entertaining yet flawed movie "Milk" came out (is that redundant--aren't...more

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Jul 20, 2011 Ceilidh rated it 4 of 5 stars

4.5 stars. Oh so close to perfect.

Full of strong reporting, both of Milk's life, his time in politics and the city of San Francisco's rise to prominence in the LGBT community, Shilts does a wonderful job of balancing the man Harvey Milk and the icon he became to the movement. As much as I love Gus Van Sant's biopic (it's what spurred me to re-read this book) it doesn't quite capture how multi-faceted a man Milk was. He was media savvy, often hot headed and spontaneous and extremely passionate t...more

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Jan 29, 2012 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography-memoirs, politics-history

Harvey Milk is a wonderful man and is rightly a hero of the GLBT movement. This book was a really interesting read in regards to who he was and his life as a whole, but I would say that if you've seen "Milk" you probably aren't going to get that much new stuff out of this. There are some changes made to the film to make the story a bit more Hollywood friendly, but the changes are minor and the film is very similar. I don't feel like I learned all that much reading this after seeing the film, but...more

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Aug 22, 2011 Carlos Smith rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

2009 has been an incredible year for Harvey Milk. Last month, President Obama awarded him the Medal of Freedom and recently Governor Schwarzenegger honored Milk by designating May 22 as Harvey Milk Day in California. It is the year which saw 'Milk', a critically acclaimed film based on his life, win 2 Academy Awards bringing Harvey's heroic story to a new generation. A year which saw the biggest gay rights march on Washington in history be led and organized by Harvey's most talented protege and...more 2009 has been an incredible year for Harvey Milk. Last month, President Obama awarded him the Medal of Freedom and recently Governor Schwarzenegger honored Milk by designating May 22 as Harvey Milk Day in California. It is the year which saw 'Milk', a critically acclaimed film based on his life, win 2 Academy Awards bringing Harvey's heroic story to a new generation. A year which saw the biggest gay rights march on Washington in history be led and organized by Harvey's most talented protege and good friend, Cleve Jones. More than 30 years after his assassination his lasting legacy is a testament to his impact on the gay movement, but it's the lack of progress since his death which is demonstrative of how crucial great leadership is in the advancement of civil rights.

This book is more than the biography of one man. It's a biography of the inception of the LGBT movement, and of a turbulent 1970's San Francisco; the most volatile political time in the city's history. Randy Shilts spends much of the book detailing the internal divide between established gay leaders and the anti-establishment ideals that Harvey Milk represented. What's key is there is much to be learned from the tactics Milk employed in fighting the Briggs initiative and in his refusal to simply support friendly liberal politicians in a effort to gain incremental equality. Milk believed that sucking up to leftist heterosexual Democrats got the movement nowhere, and his own candidacy for public office and action in office proved that theory.

Harvey's activism helped defeat California's proposition 6, a ballot initiative which moved to ban homosexuals from teaching in public schools. His sponsorship with supervisor Silver of the gay rights ordinance passed almost unanimously and extended employment non-discrimination protections to gays citywide. Even more importantly, Harvey Milk served as the de facto leader of a movement struggling to gain momentum against the uprising of anti-gay activists like Anita Bryant and the evangelicals who sought to repeal gay ordinances in places like Dade county.

Many people still debate whether Dan White's murder of Harvey was a simple civil dispute or a calculated political assassination. White certainly demonstrated his disdain for the gay movement in his countless public statements referring to gays as 'degenerates and incorrigibles', and didn't keep his hatred for Milk a secret after Milk failed to support initiatives White needed for his own district. If by killing Harvey, White hoped to stop the gay rights movement in it's tracks, he succeeded. But most of those closest to White believe he singled Milk out as being solely responsible for convincing Mayor Marscone to deny White's request to be reseated as city supervisor. His anti-gay sentiments may have only fueled his decision to murder Harvey Milk in cold blood.

This book is a great read for those who want to learn more about the history of our struggle. It's also a great cross section of big city politicking and local campaigning but most importantly this book is incredibly inspiring and a must read for any activist.(less)

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May 26, 2009 Carly rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Carly by: Dusty

Shelves: 2009

I didn't read the book until after I had watched the movie, and it was good to know a little bit more about the people in Milk's life--as well as the acknowledgement of some of Milk's less than admirable qualities.

It's hard to believe, but compared to the book, I think the movie ends on a high note. (I cried both times when watching it...) But this book goes further into the aftermath of San Francisco, and the atrocities that were once forgotten for homosexuals were reinstated.

At times Shilts'...more

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Dec 22, 2008 Marigold rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

Enjoyed this book a lot, glad I got a chance to read it before I go see the movie "Milk". I really didn't know anything about Harvey Milk or the struggles he went through on the way to elected office in San Francisco. The book gives an excellent picture of the city & its political & social life in the 1960s and 70s. The beginning and end of the book are particularly interesting; I thought the middle dragged a bit. There's a lot of detail about the political in-fighting Milk had to engage...more

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Jun 02, 2009 laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

Randy Shilts is the s***. He depicted Harvey Milk's life richly, with knowledge he gained as a gay SF reporter during the 70s, and subsequent research. The myriad details never weighed down the story arc, but instead kept me riveted and reading further. Shilts wrote non-fiction like it was a really excellent screenplay, where every bit advances the plot while being valuable in and of itself. As an aspiring journalist, I'd say that's a great take-home message about writing.

That said, I'm still po

...more

Randy Shilts is the s***. He depicted Harvey Milk's life richly, with knowledge he gained as a gay SF reporter during the 70s, and subsequent research. The myriad details never weighed down the story arc, but instead kept me riveted and reading further. Shilts wrote non-fiction like it was a really excellent screenplay, where every bit advances the plot while being valuable in and of itself. As an aspiring journalist, I'd say that's a great take-home message about writing.

That said, I'm still pondering Shilts's epilogue where he claims that Harvey Milk's life represents the homosexual experience, and that it would have played out in another city with another person if Milk hadn't come along. This comes after 300+ pages devoted to Milk's innovative and controversial political tactics and all his personal idiosynchrasies, so I immediately scratched my head over Shilts's assertion. Further contemplation left me even more confused. Yes, the drama of asserting gay power and the subsequent backlash echoes strongly of many gay people's experiences when they try to live integrated lives. This is absolutely why so many people are moved by his story: he felt that he was worthy of power, his sexual orientation notwithstanding, and then a straight, white, Catholic ex-cop shot him down and was exonerated.

I think it's just that calling this the Universal Gay Experience (UGE) is a dated statement. Shilts would admit that, before Milk, and Stonewall, and all the previous civil rights movements, the UGE did not have a model for asserting power. That's why Milk was so revolutionary. Before Stonewall, it was Judy Garland -- a drugged up and burned out victim of Hollywood -- who was the living idol of gay men. The symbolism of Stonewall occuring right after Garland's death is ground that Shilts tills himself. So the UGE before '69 was closet, closet, closet. Then the 70s came with Milk, and his experience rang true for all the people coming out in that decade, who were many. But now, we have now, and we certainly have to move forward.

However, young queers who don't know about the past models for LGBT existence need to read this book. It did me all kinds of good to see how far we've come, and to read about the heroics and humanity of the people who brought us here. The juicy, juicy bits about SF politics were immensely interesting as well. Milk's story is definitely still one part of a larger queer experience that many people can connect to, if not based on their personal experience, then at least on an empathic level. And, what am I saying? Straight people need to read this book too just because of that last bit about empathy. Just know it's not the whole story.

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Sep 08, 2010 Spiros rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone who wants to understand San Francisco politics

Shelves: california, favorite-americans, remainders, cantbelieveineverread, cinerelated

Amarcord: being summoned out of my intro social studies test by the teacher, Ms. Ruta, who told me about the assassinations. We were both in shock, which is kind of surprising, in retrospect. This book, written scant years after those events, is a brilliant evokation of those times.
Not merely a presentation of the real Harvey Milk, ears, nose, warts and all, Shilts gives us a down-the-rabbit-hole tour of San Francisco politics in the Seventies.
"He had spent the last years of his life clinging te...more

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Jul 22, 2011 Darbus rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The information was (almost by definition) fascinating, and it's clear that the author did his research very well. However, the writing style was somewhat frustrating, especially the chronology. Though the book followed Harvey Milk's life and the time immediately after it, it often went off on tangential subjects, jumping back many years in a confusing manner. There were some events, such as that fateful November 27th, which at times had very detailed descriptions of the timeline, and then sudde...more

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May 04, 2010 Lord Beardsley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone with a brain and a heart in equal measure

Shelves: read2010, favorites

This is one of the best biographies/non-fiction books I've ever read. I really think everyone (especially LGBT) interested in humanism, populism, equality, and democracy should read this book. It kept me gripped and fascinated through an entire 8 hour United Airlines flight (no small feet). A long-time hero of mine, Harvey Milk is now solidified in my pantheon of wonderful people. This man was and always will be, an inspiration. Let's hope that after reading this, we all can be inspired to do wh...more

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