Lillian Faderman is an internationally-known scholar of lesbian history and literature, as well as ethnic history and literature. Her many honours include six Lambda Literary Awards, two American Library Association Awards, and several lifetime achievement awards for scholarship. She is the author of Harvey Milk: His Lives and Death, The Gay Revolution, Surpassing the Love of Men, and Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers.

• ForewordPart One: Lilly1 How I Became an Overachiever2 Going Crazy in East L.A.3 Crushed4 Men I5 SheddingPart Two: Lil6 Hollywood 7 My Movie-Actress Nose 8 The Open Door 9 Getting the Gift of Wisdom 10 Kicked Out 11 A Jewish Prince 12 A Married Woman Part Three: Lillian13 Higher Education 14 How I Became a Burlesque Queen 15 Men II 16 Professor Faderman 17 How I Became a College Administrator 18 Sheaves of Oats 19 Epilogue Afterword Acknowledgements About the Author

Lillian Faderman's portrait of her mother and aunt, lone survivors of their slaughtered family, who have come to America laden with hope, is full of tenderness and candor and sharp, often hilarious wit. It is her unsparing portrait of herself, however, that makes this book so riveting. She is serious and ambitious, loving and stubborn. She is ready to risk everything for knowledge. She also writes beautiful sentences, and her book is likely to become a classic self-portrait in a time of change in America