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The Naked Civil Servant
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The Naked Civil Servant Paperback - 1997

by Quentin Crisp; Preface by Michael Holroyd


From the publisher

A comical and poignant memoir of a gay man living life as he pleased in the 1930s In 1931, gay liberation was not a movement--it was simply unthinkable. But in that year, Quentin Crisp made the courageous decision to "come out" as a homosexual. This exhibitionist with the henna-dyed hair was harrassed, ridiculed and beaten. Nevertheless, he claimed his right to be himself--whatever the consequences. The Naked Civil Servant is both a comic masterpiece and a unique testament to the resilience of the human spirit. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

First line

From the dawn of my history I was so disfigured by the characteristics of a certain kind of homosexual person that, when I grew up, I realized that I could not ignore my predicament.

From the rear cover

"As soon as I stepped out of my mother's womb...I realized that I had made a mistake", Quentin Crisp declares, giving a small hint of the witty and wry approach he takes toward the life he describes with uninhibited exuberance in this classic autobiography, which is both a comic masterpiece and a unique testament to the resilience of the human spirit. Crisp not only came out as a gay man in 1931, when the slightest sign of homosexuality shocked public sensibilities, but he did so with grand and provocative flamboyance, determined to spread the message that homosexuality did not exclude him or anyone else from the human race. His hilarious descriptions of encounters with parents, friends, employers, soldiers and sailors, and the law reveal the strength and humor of an honest man, determined to face the world with the uncensored, unapologetic truth about himself.

Details

  • Title The Naked Civil Servant
  • Author Quentin Crisp; Preface by Michael Holroyd
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Revised
  • Pages 240
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Penguin Group, New York, NY
  • Date May 1, 1997
  • ISBN 9780141180533 / 0141180536
  • Weight 0.39 lbs (0.18 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.68 x 5.01 x 0.61 in (19.51 x 12.73 x 1.55 cm)
  • Themes
    • Topical: Lgbt
  • Dewey Decimal Code B

Media reviews

Citations

  • Library Journal, 06/01/1997, Page 160

About the author

Quentin Crisp was born on Christmas Day 1908 in Sutton, a suburb of London. After leaving school he became an illustrator and a designer of book covers before spending the next 35 years of his life as an artists' model. In 1981 he moved to New York City and became a resident alien, living in a one bedroom flat in Chelsea which he famously never cleaned ("After the first four years the dirt doesn't get any worse"), and describing himself as a "resident waif." He died in 1999, just one month short of his 91st birthday.
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The Naked Civil Servant
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The Naked Civil Servant

by Crisp, Quentin

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NAKED CIVIL SERVANT
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NAKED CIVIL SERVANT

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The Naked Civil Servant (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)
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The Naked Civil Servant (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)

by Crisp, Quentin; Holroyd, Michael [Preface]

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The Naked Civil Servant (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)
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The Naked Civil Servant (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)

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by Quentin Crisp

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