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Reviews
The Fabulous Sylvester: The Legend, the Music, the Seventies in San Francisco by Joshua Gamson
pmovereem's review against another edition
4.0
A very moving and informative life of a brave human being and truly unique superstar. Gamson tells Sylvester's story with clarity, wry humor, and respect, weaving in with it the ebbing and flowing of San Francisco's freedom culture. Definitely recommended to readers who admire (in John Waters' phrase) "minorities who don't even fit in with their own minorities." I may have to donate it to my school's library. Thanks to Apop Records in St. Louis for carrying it!
ralowe's review against another edition
3.0
my curiosity for strategies to negotiate the white gay world led me to this. when its not feeling as exploitative as a selected reading for a sensitivity training, all of the contest to see how many times "glitter" and "sequin" can plausibly be made to occur on a page falls away and i'm able to get a glimpse of the strategy for living that was sylvester. this book is made for people who love love love his music (who else could endure the tedious lists attempting to recreate his outfits in prose) and love to hear how he made his music, under what conditions, and who was around him at the time. for any deeper meditation on the implications of sylvester's strategy for being in the world you would have to look elsewhere-- not that reading this won't give you with a lot to think about. gamson's writing provides an evolving san francisco as a backdrop as an extra, since sylvester's greatest focus was his art. reading this is greatly enhanced with either having his music playing in the background or watching his performances online.
axmed's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
“But every time Dooni went to JuJu’s door, we were right behind him, because she loved all of her children. Whatever Dooni wanted to do, and however he wanted to do it, it was okay with her. He could go in there dressed, or with his face made up. That was her grandson.” When, many years later, Julia Morgan sat next to Rod Stewart at a Sylvester show in a Los Angeles club, she turned to Stewart—or so Sylvester told the story—as Sylvester emerged in a platinum blond wig and sequins. “See him?” she said. “That’s my grandson. I made him his first dress!”
sumayyah_t's review against another edition
3.0
The biography of the disco/pop singer, Sylvester.. except when it's not. At times, the author spends more time detailing the times and surrounding city events than he does talking about Sylvester's part in it. Overall, a clear portrait of LGBTQ life in San Francisco, California.
matt_bitonti's review against another edition
5.0
Everybody is a star.
Everybody is one.
You're a star,
And you only happen once.
Everybody is one.
You're a star,
And you only happen once.
molliemoments's review
2.0
I think Sylvester is a fascinating individual and if you like biographies, learning more about queer history, or disco I would recommend this.
That being said, I didn't particularly enjoy this book, I don't know if just that this is isn't what I wanted to be reading during quarantine, or if I just am not a fan of biographies but this book didn't work for me. I struggled to get through it and honestly would have DNF'd if it wasn't for the fact that I had to read it for class.
That being said, I didn't particularly enjoy this book, I don't know if just that this is isn't what I wanted to be reading during quarantine, or if I just am not a fan of biographies but this book didn't work for me. I struggled to get through it and honestly would have DNF'd if it wasn't for the fact that I had to read it for class.