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Rating: 
Summary: Rich detail but limited to a narrow time period
Review: Clendinen and Nagourney have performed a detailed documentation of a period in gay history (1950s through the late 80's) with a typical emphasis during the five year period surrounding the 1969 Stonewall riot. The history serves as a rich illustration of the individuals (although lacking in academic detail as to why certain people were chosen to be highlighted and others were not). The book is based on a series of interviews made during 1993 and especially 1994, with many who are no longer living. As such, the period of time to document the interviews and then the prolonged period to get to print creates a book that while rich in period detail (1965-1975) rapidly peters out in its discussion of AIDS, election of Clinton, etc. which have greated far greater impacts on Gay rights, Gay Culture and the evolving acceptance (as slow as it is) of gay people in American society. A strong point is its balanced view and discussion of the gay movement prior to Stonewall and its attempt to demystify the importance given to this one particular event. Its discussion of the ongoing conflicts between the various social classes involved in the gay movement and showing that this was present from the very start is important for any younger gay person today trying to understand why certain onging tensions and conflicts exist in the gay community and why certain national gay rights groups exist (e.g., NGLTF, HRC, etc.).
Rating: 
Summary: Great facts and timeline, no themes or deeper understanding
Review: The stories and the narrative here are great and well-explained. True, the authors don't explain much about where the characters come from and just tell us that the characters are there and deal with it. Another fault here is that the authors don't really try to carry themes through the book or explain anything within a broader picture. The entire book is in the here and now and there is no big-picture thought. It's good at what it is but I wish the authors had tried to do more. Or maybe they'll write another book...And as always, the role of San Francisco in the GLBT movement gets short shrift. In the book's foreward the authors say that's because SF has been so well-documented. Hogwash. I can name a dozen books that have beat the NYC GLBT movement to death and only a couple about SF (most by one man). Last comment: the authors again ignored the contributions of the various subsets of GLBT culture. In particular the authors never mention the leather community nor the drag community except in passing and as kind of footnotes to what everyone else did. That's revisionist history and gives short shrift to some of the hardest-workers in the movement. Come on guys, a leatherman started the Advocate and the first GLBT community center, for example, yet neither is mentioned in those terms.
Rating: 
Summary: Inaccurate, mean-spirited and boring.
Review: This is an unsatisfactory book, mean-spirited and inaccurate. The authors reduce the homophile (pre-Stonewall) movement, the Gay Liberation Front, and the Gay Activists Alliance to a series of petty squabbles. They utterly fail to appreciate the courage and magnanimity of the pioneers in the struggle for gay rights. They fail to convey the radical vision of GLF or the political savvy of GAA. The most important publications, activities and demonstrations are not even mentioned. People who willingly sacrificed their careers for the movement are denigrated in crass physical terms -- as "roly poly" or looking like a "string bean" or a "turtle", or having a "nasal" voice, or sounding like a "foghorn", or being "tight little-old-mannish". There are dozens and dozens of mistakes. The authors seem unaware that Morty Manford was a President of GAA. They don't know the year of the GAA fire (1974), or that GAA continued on a smaller scale for a number of years after that. Above all, the book is BORING. And whatever else you can say about the gay liberation movement of the '70s, it was not boring.
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely interesting.. A Great Read!
Review: This is far from a dry, boring history. It is full of colorful stories that keep you reading through the night while informing you of the real struggle of real people. This book really helps you to know how far we've come and how much further we really have to go.... BRAVO on a very well written book!
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