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Description
Secret Historian: The Life and Times of Samuel Steward, Professor, Tattoo Artist, and Sexual Renegade2010 National Book Award Finalist for Nonfiction Drawn from the secret, never before seen diaries, journals, and sexual records of the novelist, poet, and university professor Samuel M. Steward, Secret Historian is a sensational reconstruction of one of the more extraordinary hidden lives of the twentieth century. An intimate friend of Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, and Thornton Wilder, Steward maintained a secret sex life from childhood on, and
2010 National Book Award Finalist for Nonfiction
Drawn from the secret, never-before-seen diaries, journals, and sexual records of the novelist, poet, and university professor Samuel M. Steward, Secret Historian is a sensational reconstruction of one of the more extraordinary hidden lives of the twentieth century. An intimate friend of Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, and Thornton Wilder, Steward maintained a secret sex life from childhood on, and documented these experiences in brilliantly vivid (and often very funny) detail. After leaving the world of academe to become Phil Sparrow, a tattoo artist on Chicago's notorious South State Street, Steward worked closely with Alfred Kinsey on his landmark sex research. During the early 1960s, Steward changed his name and identity once again, this time to write exceptionally literate, upbeat pro-homosexual pornography under the name of Phil Andros. Until today he has been known only as Phil Sparrow--but an extraordinary archive of his papers, lost since his death in 1993, has provided Justin Spring with the material for an exceptionally compassionate and brilliantly illuminating life-and-times biography. More than merely the story of one remarkable man, Secret Historian is a moving portrait of homosexual life long before Stonewall and gay liberation.Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Published: 07/19/2011
ISBN: 9780374533021
Pages: 478
Weight: 1.02lbs
Size: 8.29h x 5.65w x 1.35d
Review Citations: New York Times Book Review 08/28/2011 pg. 24
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4.6 ★★★★★
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★★★★★ 5
Beautiful colors
Format: Hardcover
Great book!
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2026
★★★★★ 5
exceptional, very highly recommended character-driven literary family drama
Format: Kindle
Whistler by Ann Patchett is an exceptional, very highly recommended character-driven literary family drama which will definitely be one of the best books I've read this year. In Whistler Patchett has given us a beautifully written, eloquent, insightful and sensitive story encompassing the complexity of families, connections, and relationships over time. I love everything about this book.
As they were visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Daphne Fuller's retired husband Jonathan notices an older man following them and they discover he is Eddie Triplett, Daphne's former stepfather. She hasn't seen him for 44 years but immediately remembers her love for him and the bond they had for a couple years. The two also shared a traumatic experience when she was nine and they were in a car accident. Immediately after this Daphne's mother divorced Eddie and he disappeared from her life. After this chance meeting and reconnection, Daphne immediately and understandably needs to see and tell her younger sister, Leda, about it.
The sisters had a complicated childhood that Daphne never felt was very happy. Daphne and Leda's biological father, Buddy Zabriskie, was a deep-sea fisherman and left the family early, although the girls had a relationship with him. Then their mother married Eddie and both girls loved him for the brief time he was in their lives. Their third and final stepfather, Lucas Ekker, still lives with her mother in Massachusetts and they had two sons. The two sisters were done with stepfathers at this point.
As the narrative unfolds, Daphne and Eddie continue to meet and restore their relationship as father and daughter, but now as adults. While following the present day events, Interstitial chapters jump back in time when Eddie was her stepfather and cover the events from when they were in the car accident. It is during these interludes back in time that were learn the story of Whistler and also see the deep connection between Eddie and Daphne. Events in both the past and present show how complicated interpersonal relationships are, how little we truly understand of our past, and, ultimately, how fragile life can be.
Because this is a character-driven story, all the characters are portrayed as realistic, fully realized individuals with strengths and weaknesses. The narrative examines relationships, choices made in both the past and present and how many seemingly small and inconsequential moments can follow us our whole lives. It also gently shows how being recognized and understood by another person, even for a short period of time, can change your life and theirs.
Whistler by Ann Patchett is a wonderful choice for everyone who enjoys thoughtful, sensitive, character-driven literary novels. Thanks to HarperCollins for providing me with an advance reader's copy via Edelweiss. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2026
★★★★★ 4
Another good Patchett book
Format: Kindle
Thanks go to the publisher and Netgalley for an advance copy of Whistler.
I enjoyed this book. The story and characters, and references the the publishing world. I wanted to like it (at a 5 star level) more than I did. But overall, a good read.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2026
★★★★★ 5
Wonderful, Gripping, Suspenseful, and Miraculous!
Format: Hardcover
The first thing I thought when I started reading Ann Patchett’s new novel, “Whistler” was: “Oh no, this is SO GOOD it’s going to go by too quickly!” I was right, and the only remedy to that is to read it again – it’s that great.
Patchett has created a matryoshka doll of a novel with a story inside of a story inside of story, and they are ALL wonderful, gripping, suspenseful, and miraculous!
The inciting incident that sets off the story takes place in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. As Daphne and her husband Jonathan take in the art, Jonathan notices that they are being followed by an older man who turns out the be Daphne’s former stepfather, Eddie, whom she hasn’t seen in 44 years (since she was nine) but who was pivotal in how her life unfolded.
Through the narrative, Daphne, and her sister Leda, relive long forgotten memories from their brief but impactful time with Eddie, now understanding what they couldn’t as children.
Patchett has written about blended families, divorce, and stepparenting before, in her wonderful 2016 novel “Commonwealth”, and in some of the personal essays about her own childhood. So, she knows what she’s talking about!
Patchett beautifully evokes childhood nostalgia and skillfully portrays the way the past can sometimes seem more immediate than the present, highlighting reconnection, reconciliation, and grace.
Thank you yet again, Ann; this was just the book I needed right now!
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Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2026
★★★★★ 5
One of Ann Patchett’s best novels.
Format: Hardcover
“Whistler,” by Ann Patchett, Harper, 320 pages, June 2, 2026.
Daphne and Jonathan Fuller are visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art when Jonathan notices an older man following them. They go up to the next floor and the man is still following them.
It turns out he is Eddie Triplett, Daphne’s former stepfather, who was married to her mother for a little more than year when Daphne was nine. They haven’t seen each other in almost 45 years, but he recognizes her.
It is a chance meeting. Daphne teaches literature at a private school and Jonathan is a retired hospital administrator. Eddie is an editor at Random House, but he wasn’t at the office this day because of a water main break.
Daphne visits her sister, Leda, to tell her about the encounter. Flashback to 1980, when Leda was having an appendectomy, Eddie was driving Daphne to the hospital in a snowstorm and they were in an accident. Daphne had to climb out of a car window and walk for help. After that, her mother divorced Eddie. Of course, there’s more to what happened.
This is a wonderful story about adults looking back at the choices they’ve made and the choices that others made for them. It is about the small things that impact our lives and memories of childhood. It is about families, love and bravery. This is one of Ann Patchett’s best novels.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2026