The Naked Civil Servant (Penguin Classics)
by Quentin Crisp
List Price:
Our Price: $9.25
You Save: $6.75 (42%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $5.99 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Quentin CrispPreface: Michael Holroyd
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1997-05-01
ISBN: 0141180536
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780141180533
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
- Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices
Book Reviews of The Naked Civil Servant (Penguin Classics)
Book Review: Memoir of a narcissist.
Summary: 3 Stars
"When the telegram announcing my father's death arrived, I felt nothing except irritation at the thought of having to go home, attend the funeral, and come back."
Quentin Crisp is not a likeable human being. About one quarter way into this book, I was tempted to throw it aside for good. But given its generally favorable reviews, I felt I should give it another chance. And a peculiar thing happened. Although Crisp does nothing to present himself in a more favorable light - if anything, he goes out of his way to make the point that the reader's approval matters nothing to him - by the two-third mark, one cannot help but develop a grudging admiration for the man.
It's hard to know why this happens - perhaps just a case of sympathy for the underdog. Crisp was born in a time when homosexuality really was the love that dare not speak its name, and made his mark by never obliging those who would have him live life in a shadow, instead choosing to flaunt his difference. This book is an account of the price exacted. While the reader may be moved toward a grudging admiration for Crisp's refusal to be ground down by the prejudice and cruelty surrounding him, it's impossible to feel any real sympathy for the man. Because, ultimately, this is the autobiography of a narcissist. Reviews of this book invariably mention its wit and brilliant self-mockery, qualities I found singularly absent. Given a 200-page book in which no other character appears as remotely human, as anything other than a sketch or cipher, and in which the author admits to never having loved, or been loved, the final effect of this strangely empty memoir is bleak indeed. I feel a certain admiration for Quentin Crisp. But I can't say that I enjoyed spending time in his company.
Summary of The Naked Civil Servant (Penguin Classics)
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. 2 cassettes.Authors Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Books I read in 2009 Part 2
Lucky Jim (Penguin Classics)by Kingsley Amis
Penguin Classics; Published: 1993-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.97
Price in other shops:
Blissed Outby Simon Reynolds
Serpent's Tail; Published: 1990-10; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
Among the Thugsby Bill Buford
Vintage; Published: 1993-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.33
Price in other shops:
Seduced and Abandoned: Essays on Gay Men and Popular Musicby Richard Smith
Cassell; Published: 1996-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $43.80
The Naked Civil Servant (Penguin Classics)by Quentin Crisp
Penguin Classics; Published: 1997-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.97
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Lesbian (Outlaw : Survival Under the Rule of Law)by Ruthann Robson
Firebrand Books; Published: 1992-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.50
Price in other shops:
How to Have a Life-Styleby Quentin Crisp
Alyson Books; Published: 1998-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $44.04
The Deformed Transformedby George Gordon Byron, Baron Byron
Kessinger Publishing; Published: 2004-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.85
Price in other shops:
Stone Butch Blues: A Novelby Leslie Feinberg
Alyson Books; Published: 2004-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.49
Price in other shops:
Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America (Between Men--Between Women)by Lillian Faderman
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1992-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.24
Price in other shops:
Stonewallby Martin Duberman
Published: 1994-04-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.78
Price in other shops:
The Men with the Pink Triangle: The True Life-and-Death Story of Homosexuals in the Nazi Death Campsby Heinz Heger
Alyson Books; Published: 1994-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.25
Price in other shops:
The Wit and Wisdom of Quentin Crispby Quentin Crisp, Guy Kettelhack
Olympic Marketing Corp; Published: 1984-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $73.71
The Philosophy of Andy Warhol : (From A to B and Back Again)by Andy Warhol
Harvest Books; Published: 1977-04-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.30
Price in other shops:
The Naked Civil ServantWarner Brothers; Release date: 2007-05-29; DVD
Best price: $10.98
Price in other shops: