The Fabulous Sylvester
The Legend, The Music, The Seventies In San Francisco
Gamson, Joshua
Hardcover
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BOOK SUMMARY
A journey back through the music, madness, and unparalleled freedom of an era of change-the '70s-as told through the life of ultra-fabulous superstar Sylvester
Imagine a pied piper singing in a dazzling falsetto, wearing glittering sequins, and leading
Submit a book reviewBOOK SYNOPSIS
A journey back through the music, madness, and unparalleled freedom of an era of change-the '70s-as told through the life of ultra-fabulous superstar Sylvester
Imagine a pied piper singing in a dazzling falsetto, wearing glittering sequins, and leading the young people of the nation to San Francisco and on to liberation where nothing was straight-laced or old-fashioned. And everyone, finally, was welcome-to come as themselves. This is not a fairy tale. This was real, mighty real, and disco sensation Sylvester was the piper. Joshua Gamson-a Yale-trained pop culture expert-uses him, a boy who would be fabulous, to lead us through the story of the '70s when a new era of change liberated us from conformity and boredom. Gamson captures the exuberant life, feeling, energy, and fun of a generation's wonderful, magical waking up-from the parties to the dancing and music.
The story begins with a little black boy who started with nothing but a really big voice. We follow him from the Gospel chorus to the glory days in the Castro where a generation shook off its shame as Sylvester sang and began his rise as part of a now-notorious theatrical troup called the Cockettes. Celebrity, sociology, and music history mingle and merge around this endlessly entertaining story of a singer who embodied the freedom, spirit, and flamboyance of a golden moment in American culture.
AUTHOR BIO
Joshua Gamson is a professor of sociology at the University of San Francisco. He is the author of Freaks Talk Back: Tabloid Talk Shows and Sexual Nonconformity and Claims to Fame: Celebrity in Contemporary America. He formerly taught at Yale. He lives in Oakland, California.
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MORE BOOK INFO
ISBN: 0805072500
ISBN(13-digit): 9780805072501
Copyright: 2005
Dewey Decimal: 782.42164/092
Library of Congress: 2004042380
Book Publisher: Henry Holt & Co
Language: ENG
No. of Pages: 306
