Andrea Weiss

Even if you have no feelings at all about Thomas Mann, even if you’ve never read any of his work, you’ve got to admit that the lives of his two eldest children are worth reading about. Erika and Klaus Mann, born in 1905 and 1906, were the closest of siblings: they supported each other’s artistic work, shared each other’s lovers, and followed each other around the globe to write, lecture, perform and party with some of the greatest minds of their generation. I imagine there are people show more out there who don’t like reading about queer radical anti-fascist artists and their love lives, but they probably just haven’t found the right book to get them started yet. This is that book. show less

A revelatory survey of lesbian identity in film--from the crossdressing stars like Garbo, Dietrich, and Hepburn to the vampire movies of the late '60s, Silkwood and The Color Purple. With wit and political acumen, Weiss reveals the concealed world of a host of movies both popular and forgotten. 160 photos.

Read it mostly to mentally get ready for our family Parisian adventure next fall. Most of the stories were familiar, but I loved fading some of the personal correspondence of Sylvia Beach, Jane Flanner et al. And Flanner's characterization of Alice Toklas and her grief after Gertrude Stein's death, "she is the most widowed woman I know," brought tears to my eyes.

Wonderful collection of photographs and stories from the "Golden Age of Paris," pre WW2