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Passing : When People Can't Be Who They Are by Brooke Kroeger (2004, Perfect)

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About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherPublic Affairs

ISBN-101586482874

ISBN-139781586482879

eBay Product ID (ePID)43439875

Product Key Features

Book TitlePassing : When People Can't Be Who They Are

Number of Pages288 Pages

LanguageEnglish

TopicSociology / General

Publication Year2004

GenreSocial Science

AuthorBrooke Kroeger

FormatPerfect

Dimensions

Item Height0.7 in

Item Weight11.6 Oz

Item Length8.2 in

Item Width5.5 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

Dewey Edition21

Dewey Decimal302/.1

SynopsisDespite the many social changes of the last half-century, many Americans still "pass": black for white, gay for straight, and now in many new ways as well. We tend to think of passing in negative terms--as deceitful, cowardly, a betrayal of one's self. But this compassionate book reveals that many passers today are people of good heart and purpose whose decision to pass is an attempt to bypass injustice, and to be more truly themselves. Passing tells the poignant, complicated life stories of a black man who passed as a white Jew; a white woman who passed for black; a working class Puerto Rican who passes for privileged; a gay, Conservative Jewish seminarian and a lesbian naval officer who passed for straight; and a respected poet who radically shifts persona to write about rock'n'roll. The stories, interwoven with others from history, literature, and contemporary life, explore the many forms passing still takes in our culture; the social realities which make it an option; and its logistical, emotional, and moral consequences. We learn that there are still too many institutions, environments, and social situations that force honorable people to twist their lives into painful, deceit-ridden contortions for reasons that do not hold. Passing is an intellectually absorbing exploration of a phenomenon that has long intrigued scholars, inspired novelists, and made hits of movies like The Crying Game and Boys Don't Cry., Despite the many social changes of the last half-century, many Americans still "pass": black for white, gay for straight, and now in many new ways as well. We tend to think of passing in negative terms- as deceitful, cowardly, a betrayal of one's self. But this compassionate book reveals that many passers today are people of good heart and purpose whose decision to pass is an attempt to bypass injustice, and to be more truly themselves. Passing tells the poignant, complicated life stories of a black man who passed as a white Jew a white woman who passed for black a working class Puerto Rican who passes for privileged a gay, Conservative Jewish seminarian and a lesbian naval officer who passed for straight and a respected poet who radically shifts persona to write about rock'n'roll. The stories, interwoven with others from history, literature, and contemporary life, explore the many forms passing still takes in our culture the social realities which make it an option and its logistical, emotional, and moral consequences. We learn that there are still too many institutions, environments, and social situations that force honorable people to twist their lives into painful, deceit-ridden contortions for reasons that do not hold. Passing is an intellectually absorbing exploration of a phenomenon that has long intrigued scholars, inspired novelists, and made hits of movies like The Crying Game and Boys Don't Cry., Despite the many social changes of the last half-century, many Americans still "pass: " black for white, gay for straight, and now in many new ways as well. We tend to think of passing in negative terms-as deceitful, cowardly, a betrayal of one's self. But this compassionate book reveals that many passers today are people of good heart and purpose whose decision to pass is an attempt to bypass injustice, and to be more truly themselves. Passing tells the poignant, complicated life stories of six present day "passers" whose stories, interwoven with others from history, literature, and life, explore the social realities which make passing an option in our culture and its logistical, emotional and moral consequences. They also raise fascinating questions about both the nature of identity and the structure of society., Despite the many social changes of the last half-century, many Americans still "pass": black for white, gay for straight, and now in many new ways as well. We tend to think of passing in negative terms- as deceitful, cowardly, a betrayal of one's self. But this compassionate book reveals that many passers today are people of good heart and purpose whose decision to pass is an attempt to bypass injustice, and to be more truly themselves. Passing tells the poignant, complicated life stories of a black man who passed as a white Jew a white woman who passed for black a working class Puerto Rican who passes for privileged a gay, Conservative Jewish seminarian and a lesbian naval officer who passed for straight and a respected poet who radically shifts persona to write about rock'n'roll. The stories, interwoven with others from history, literature, and contemporary life, explore the many forms passing still takes in our culture the social realities which make it an option and its logistical, emotional, and moral consequences. We learn that there are still too many institutions, environments, and social situations that force honourable people to twist their lives into painful, deceit-ridden contortions for reasons that do not hold. Passing is an intellectually absorbing exploration of a phenomenon that has long intrigued scholars, inspired novelists, and made hits of movies like The Crying Game and Boys Don't Cry., The phenomenon of "passing" has long gripped the public imagination. Passing stories have intrigued Americans for nearly a century, from Nella Larsen's novel Passing in 1929 to the popular melodrama Imitation of Life (1934 and 1959) to reverse-passing bestsellers Black Like Me and Soul Sister in the early 1960s, and more recently to movies including The Crying Game, Boys Don't Cry, and Catch Me If You Can, Diane Middlebrook's biography of gender-passing jazz musician Billy Tipton, Suits Me, and Philip Roth's novel (soon to be movie) The Human Stain. Even one of the most quintessential works of American fiction--The Great Gatsby--is, arguably, a passing story. In the course of researching her well-regarded biography of Fannie Hurst, who was among other things author of Imitation of Life, Brooke Kroeger became fascinated by the subject of passing. She set out to find out whether people still passed today, why, and what it revealed about them and about our world. What she found surprised her. Through the stories of six people--a black man passing as a white Jew; a white woman passing for black; a working class Puerto Rican passing for someone of more privileged background; a gay, Conservative Jewish seminarian and a lesbian Navy officer each passing for straight; and a male poet passing for a teen female--interwoven with other examples from history, literature, and contemporary life, Kroeger beautifully illuminates how passing comes to pass today: how inner lives rub up against external realities; how decisions are made or evolve; and what the consequences are logistically, emotionally, and spiritually. She creates a picture of the many forms that passing still takes in our culture; andexplores the social, cultural, and geographical contexts that make it an option. Passing reveals that, while there are still many people who pass for ignoble reasons, many others are people of good heart and purpose whose decision to pass, at least indirectly, involved the attempt to bypass injustice. We learn that there are still too many institutions, environments, and social situations that force ordinary, ordinarily honorable people to twist their lives into painful, deceit-ridden contortions for reasons that do not hold.

LC Classification NumberHM1068.K76 2005