A Woman Like That - by Joan Larkin (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The act of "coming out" has the power to transform every aspect of a woman's life: family, friendships, career, sexuality, spirituality. An essential element of self-realization, it is the unabashed acceptance of one's "outlaw" standing in a predominantly heterosexual world.

These accounts -- sometimes heart-wrenching, often exhilarating -- encompass a wide breadth of backgrounds and experiences. From a teenager institutionalized for her passion for women to the mother who must come out to her young sons at the risk of losing them -- from the cautious academic to the raucous liberated femme -- each woman represented here tells of forging a unique path toward the difficult but emancipating recognition of herself. Extending from the 1940s to the present day, these intensely personal stories in turn reflect a unique history of the changing social mores that affected each woman's ability to determine the shape of her own life. Together they form an ornate tapestry of lesbian and bisexual experience in the United States over the past half-century.

Review Quotes

"A diverse and lively anthology of popular lesbian and bisexual authors writing about the multifaceted phenomenon of coming out." -- "Kirkus""Sometimes funny, at other times full of pathos, these coming-out stories are unfailingly moving." -- "Booklist""Each of these tales -- and the women behind them -- startle and move us in miraculous ways. This collection of thirty-one tales -- cantankerous, humorous, sometimes bitter, often fortuitous, sometimes regretful, and mostly relieved and satisfied -- forces us to grapple with the hard realities and the alluring mysteries of what it means to be a sexual person -- of many hues and ambitions -- in the world today." -- Michael Bronski"Even family needs a woman like that!" -- Rita Mae Brown"A book of writers' coming out stories! Now we need a CD of singers' coming out songs, an exhibition of painters' coming out paintings, a ballet of choreographers' coming out dances, etc., to go with this exaltation." -- Kate Clinton"I hated to see these stories end. I wanted to write each of the writers and say, 'Thank you for your honesty. You helped me understand more about the immeasurable ways we are human.'" -- Toi Derricotte