Today we meet Alvin Orloff and we’re talking about the queer book that saved his life: The Naked Civil Servant by Quentin Crisp.

Alvin Orloff began writing in 1977, penning lyrics for the Blow Dryers, an early San Francisco punk band. He spent the 1980s working as a telemarketer and exotic dancer while concurrently attending UC Berkeley and performing with the Popstitutes. In 1990, he and his bandmates founded Clubstitute, a floating queer cabaret devoted to the ideal of cultural democracy that featured spoken word, theater, drag, and musical acts. He has published four novels: I Married an Earthling, Gutter Boys, Why Aren't You Smiling, and Vulgarian Rhapsody, along with a memoir, Disasterama, which was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award. He lives in San Francisco and is the proprietor of Fabulosa Books.

In The Naked Civil Servant, it's 1931 and 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.

Quentin Crisp was a raconteur, author, and performer born on Christmas Day in 1908. Her memoir The Naked Civil Servant was adapted into a 1975 film starring John Hurt. Please note: We want to acknowledge that we misgendered Quentin in part of the episode, until Alvin corrected the record and we apologize for this. It was at 90 years old, in her final book, The Last Word, that Quentin came out as transgender.

Connect with Alvin

website: fabulosabooks.com
website: alvinorloff.com

Our Bookshop
Visit our Bookshop for new releases, current bestsellers, banned books, critically acclaimed LGBTQ books, or peruse the books featured on our podcasts: bookshop.org/shop/thisqueerbook

Buy your copy of The Naked Civil Servant here: https://bookshop.org/a/82376/9780141180533

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Credits
Host/Founder: John Parker
Executive Producer: Jim Pounds
Associate Producers: Archie Arnold, K Jason Bryan and David Rephan, Bob Bush, Natalie Cruz, Troy Ford, Jonathan Fried, Joe Perazzo, Bill Shay, Sean Smith, and Karsten Vagner
Patreon Subscribers: Stephen D., Stephen Flamm, Ida Göteburg, Thomas Michna, Sofia Nerman, and Gary Nygaard.
Creative and Accounting support provided by: Gordy Erickson

Quatrefoil Library

Quatrefoil has created a curated lending library made up of the books featured on our podcast! If you can’t buy these books, then borrow them! Link: https://libbyapp.com/library/quatrefoil/curated-1404336/page-1

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Today we meet Jeff Copeland and we’re talking about the queer book that saved his life: Miss Rona by Rona Barrett.

Jeff is the author of Love You Madly, Holly Woodlawn and co-author with Holly Woodlawn of Low Life in High Heels: The Holly Woodlawn Story. An Emmy award nominee, he worked for nearly thirty years for a variety of TV Networks and film studios, including Discovery, Animal Planet, HGTV, ABC, FOX, and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

In Miss Rona, Rona Barrett charts her life from childhood and her struggle with a degenerative hip disease while organizing fan clubs for musicians. From there, she charts her rise as a gossip columnist and ultimately entertainment journalist.

Connect with Jeff

facebook: @jeff.copeland.982
instagram: @loveyoumadlyhollywoodlawn
youtube: @loveyoumadlyhollywoodlawn

Our Bookshop
Visit our Bookshop for new releases, current bestsellers, banned books, critically acclaimed LGBTQ books, or peruse the books featured on our podcasts: bookshop.org/shop/thisqueerbook

Miss Rona is not available on Bookshop.org. Please check with your local bookstore or a used book retailer.

Buy your copy of Love You Madly, Holly Woodlawn here: https://bookshop.org/a/82376/9781627311595

Become an Associate Producer!
Become an Associate Producer of our podcast through a $20/month sponsorship on Patreon! A professionally recognized credit, you can gain access to Associate Producer meetings to help guide our podcast into the future! Get started today: patreon.com/thisqueerbook

Credits
Host/Founder: John Parker
Executive Producer: Jim Pounds
Associate Producers: Archie Arnold, K Jason Bryan and David Rephan, Bob Bush, Natalie Cruz, Troy Ford, Jonathan Fried, Joe Perazzo, Bill Shay, Sean Smith, and Karsten Vagner
Patreon Subscribers: Stephen D., Stephen Flamm, Ida Göteburg, Thomas Michna, Sofia Nerman, and Gary Nygaard.
Creative and Accounting support provided by: Gordy Erickson

Quatrefoil Library

Quatrefoil has created a curated lending library made up of the books featured on our podcast! If you can’t buy these books, then borrow them! Link: https://libbyapp.com/library/quatrefoil/curated-1404336/page-1

Support the show