Harvey Fierstein

This story is about a man who knew within the confines of his heart what was normal for him and didn’t let the prejudices of his age prevent him from finding love in its various forms.

But finding fulfillment was a much more tortuous road, as it is for us all.

Among the more moving parts of actor, cross-dresser, playwright, screenwriter, and voiceover artist Harvey Fierstein’s memoir are his remembrances of how people first greeted news of AIDS.

Not that it was a pandemic affecting the lives of millions of people, but that it came from queers who got what they deserved.

Not us but them.

I think the drive to tell these stories from an “us” perspective is what drove him, that we are people just like you. That there’s no reason to fear us and push us into society’s dark corners. That we also deserve respect.

His memoir shows why he indeed deserved the respect and love of his parents, and how he turned that sensibility into some of the most memorable theatre of his age.… (more)

One thing for sure, the author can write. He has a way with a phrase, and can make even the most banal of stories sound like something different. The book is an easy read, though a lot of the names he was dropping early in the book were unfamiliar, since I have never been particularly up on the drag scene. As he got to his later careers, the names became more meaningful, not just the people but the works he was involved with. Many of them I've seen and enjoyed. Perhaps too much of the gay sex scene for me; that's one reason I so rarely read celebrity biographies, because sex is so central to so many and I'm just not that interested. This was an issue mostly in the earlier part of the book. Once he got to his later career, he talks a lot more about the acting, writing, and other things he was doing. There are some areas where his information is far from factual, but I suppose that's the thing with memoirs and autobiographies; it isn't about what's true, it's about what you think or remember.… (more)

We know him as Arnold, Edna, Tevye, Albin and just plain Harvey. He has been a prominent part of American musical theater since the 1970s as a writer and a performer. He is the first openly gay actor to achieve such fame.

His memoir is a fun read. It is chatty and honest, conveying his achievements and his down times (alcoholism, depression, addiction to anonymous sex). The book is beautifully produced, with 62 intimate photos displayed throughout.

At age 70, his career is not over. We haven't heard the last from Harvey.… (more)