My sister slept with the light on until she was 27. She rightfully blames me. I would leap out of closets with my hands made into claws. I would...
Continue »
On the heels of his Emmy-winning It Gets Better campaign, columnist and provocateur Dan Savage returns with American Savage: Insights, Slights, and Fights on Faith, Sex, Love, and Politics (Dutton), weighing in on such diverse issues as health care, gun control, and marriage equality with his characteristic straight talk and humor. This event is sponsored by the Q Center.
The true story of a marriage (not really), a lovable and relentless mother, a six-year-old who says his parents cannot get married (but wants to go to the reception), a partner who doesn't want to act like a straight person, and the author, who has written a hilarious and poignant memoir about making "The Commitment."
There is no hotter issue than gay marriage in the culture-war debate, and Dan Savage, one of America's most outspoken and beloved columnists, takes it on and makes it personal in this rollicking memoir of coming to terms with the very public act of marriage. What he discovers will make readers — gay or straight, right or left, single or married — howl with laughter as well as rethink their notions of marriage and all that it entails.
Review:
"The author of the internationally syndicated column 'Savage Love' brings much-needed humor, and a reality check, to the bitter gay-marriage debate with this polemical memoir. As Savage (Skipping Towards Gomorrah) and his boyfriend, Terry, neared their 10th anniversary, Savage's mother put on the pressure for them to get married. But, Savage notes, there were several other points to consider before deciding to tie the knot: among them, the fact that marriage doesn't provide legal protection in Washington State; Terry prefers tattoos as a sign of commitment; and their six-year-old son declared that only men and women can get married. Furthermore, Savage himself worried that the relationship would be jinxed by anything more permanent than a big anniversary bash, though the one they plan quickly assumes the proportions and price of a wedding reception. While documenting the couple's wobble toward a decision, Savage skewers ideologues, both pro- and anti-gay marriage, with his radical pragmatism. Disproving Tolstoy's dictum that 'happy families are all alike,' he takes a sharp-eyed, compassionate look at matrimony as it is actually practiced by friends, his raucously affectionate family and even medieval Christians. When he explains to his son what marriage is really about, you want to stand up and cheer, and the surprise ending is both hilarious and a tear-jerker. As funny as David Sedaris's essay collections, but bawdier and more thought-provoking, this timely book shows that being pro-family doesn't have to mean being anti-gay. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Review:
"Dan Savage is a man practiced at having it both ways. In this memoir of how and why he decided to marry his boyfriend, he combines many risque mentions of his friend's hot buns with scenes as suburban as a backyard badminton game." Washington Post
Review:
"Energetically ambivalent memoir of a gay wedding as a family milestone. Despite his arguments to the contrary, Savage takes a resigned pleasure making an honest family man of himself." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis:
Savage, a syndicated sex-advice columnist, takes on the issue of gay marriage and makes it personal in this rollicking memoir of coming to terms with the very public act of marriage.
Synopsis:
Dan Savage’s mother wants him to get married. His boyfriend, Terry, says “no thanks” because he doesn’t want to act like a straight person. Their six-year-old son DJ says his two dads aren’t “allowed” to get married, but that he’d like to come to the reception and eat cake. Throw into the mix Dan’s straight siblings, whose varied choices form a microcosm of how Americans are approaching marriage these days, and you get a rollicking family memoir that will have everyone—gay or straight, right or left, single or married—howling with laughter and rethinking their notions of marriage and all it entails.
Dan Savage is the author of the internationally syndicated sex-advice column "Savage Love" and the editor of The Stranger, Seattle's weekly newspaper. His books include Skipping Towards Gomorrah; Savage Love, a collection of his advice columns; and The Kid, an award-winning memoir about adoption. His writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the op-ed pages of the New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Onion, and other publications. He has also contributed numerous pieces to This American Life on NPR.
"Publishers Weekly Review"
by Publishers Weekly,
"The author of the internationally syndicated column 'Savage Love' brings much-needed humor, and a reality check, to the bitter gay-marriage debate with this polemical memoir. As Savage (Skipping Towards Gomorrah) and his boyfriend, Terry, neared their 10th anniversary, Savage's mother put on the pressure for them to get married. But, Savage notes, there were several other points to consider before deciding to tie the knot: among them, the fact that marriage doesn't provide legal protection in Washington State; Terry prefers tattoos as a sign of commitment; and their six-year-old son declared that only men and women can get married. Furthermore, Savage himself worried that the relationship would be jinxed by anything more permanent than a big anniversary bash, though the one they plan quickly assumes the proportions and price of a wedding reception. While documenting the couple's wobble toward a decision, Savage skewers ideologues, both pro- and anti-gay marriage, with his radical pragmatism. Disproving Tolstoy's dictum that 'happy families are all alike,' he takes a sharp-eyed, compassionate look at matrimony as it is actually practiced by friends, his raucously affectionate family and even medieval Christians. When he explains to his son what marriage is really about, you want to stand up and cheer, and the surprise ending is both hilarious and a tear-jerker. As funny as David Sedaris's essay collections, but bawdier and more thought-provoking, this timely book shows that being pro-family doesn't have to mean being anti-gay. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
"Review"
by Washington Post,
"Dan Savage is a man practiced at having it both ways. In this memoir of how and why he decided to marry his boyfriend, he combines many risque mentions of his friend's hot buns with scenes as suburban as a backyard badminton game."
"Review"
by Kirkus Reviews,
"Energetically ambivalent memoir of a gay wedding as a family milestone. Despite his arguments to the contrary, Savage takes a resigned pleasure making an honest family man of himself."
"Synopsis"
by Libri,
Savage, a syndicated sex-advice columnist, takes on the issue of gay marriage and makes it personal in this rollicking memoir of coming to terms with the very public act of marriage.
"Synopsis"
by Firebrand,
Dan Savage’s mother wants him to get married. His boyfriend, Terry, says “no thanks” because he doesn’t want to act like a straight person. Their six-year-old son DJ says his two dads aren’t “allowed” to get married, but that he’d like to come to the reception and eat cake. Throw into the mix Dan’s straight siblings, whose varied choices form a microcosm of how Americans are approaching marriage these days, and you get a rollicking family memoir that will have everyone—gay or straight, right or left, single or married—howling with laughter and rethinking their notions of marriage and all it entails.
Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.
