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The audacity of a kiss : love, art, and liberation / Leslie Cohen.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New Brunswick : Rutgers University Press, [2021]Description: xiv, 235 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 23 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781978825116
  • 1978825110
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
Secrets and dreams -- Confetti on New Year's Eve -- Touching God -- Abstractions -- Crawling out of darkness -- Acceptance -- Les femmes -- Water in the desert -- Jagged, dirty thoughts -- An antidote to boredom -- Permission -- Virginia Slims -- Lone riders -- Style gets used up -- Bashert (fate; meant to be) -- After the desert.
Summary: "The Audacity of a Kiss tells the story of Leslie Cohen, from her youth in Queens, New York during the "Mad Men" era of the 1950s, to her young adulthood and coming of age in the turbulent 1960s and 70s, through her involvement in the women's movement and the sex, drugs, and rock and roll of 1970s NYC. Through it all, she narrates with honesty and humor her attempts to reconcile her feelings for other women with her upbringing during a time when the world designated gay people as mentally ill. In 1965, Leslie met Beth, the woman destined to be her life partner, and over the years, they weave through each other's lives until they finally realized what they meant to each other. From the conformity of the 1950s to the Civil Rights movement, the anti-war demonstrations, and the shift to long hair, pot, and women's and gay liberation, their story is set against the backdrop of the upheavals of the 1960s and 70s, and centers in part on Sahara, the groundbreaking women's nightclub Leslie opened with her partners in 1976 NYC. Sahara was the first elegant bar in New York City owned and operated by women for women, rather than being a seedy bar owned and operated by the Mafia, as were many of the gay clubs at the time. They hung contemporary artwork created by women and now hanging in major museums throughout the country. On Thursdays they showcased live acts. Celebrities such as Jane Fonda, Tom Hayden, Patti Smith, Pat Benatar, Warren Beatty, Gilda Radner, Jane Curtin, Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Bella Abzug, Adrienne Rich, Rita Mae Brown, and Ntozake Shange appeared there. In a time when much of the world was still very closeted, Leslie and Beth fell in love and posed for George Segal in 1979. The relationship between the history of this famous club, the intense love affair between these two women, and the iconic sculpture, "Gay Liberation" has never been told in its entirety until now"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library Biography COHEN, L. C678 Available 33111010576490
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Shortlisted for Lesbian Memoir/Biography Lammy Award
Rendered in bronze, covered in white lacquer, two women sit together on a park bench in Greenwich Village. One of the women touches the thigh of her partner as they gaze into each other's eyes. The two women are part of George Segal's iconic sculpture "Gay Liberation," but these powerful symbols were modeled on real people: Leslie Cohen and her partner (now wife) Beth Suskin.

In this evocative memoir, Cohen tells the story of a love that has lasted for over fifty years. Transporting the reader to the pivotal time when brave gay women and men carved out spaces where they could live and love freely, she recounts both her personal struggles and the accomplishments she achieved as part of New York's gay and feminist communities. Foremost among these was her 1976 cofounding of the groundbreaking women's nightclub Sahara, which played host to such luminaries as Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Pat Benatar, Ntozake Shange, Rita Mae Brown, Adrienne Rich, Patti Smith, Bella Abzug, and Jane Fonda. The Audacity of a Kiss is a moving and inspiring tale of how love, art, and solidarity can overcome oppression.

Includes bibliographical references.

Secrets and dreams -- Confetti on New Year's Eve -- Touching God -- Abstractions -- Crawling out of darkness -- Acceptance -- Les femmes -- Water in the desert -- Jagged, dirty thoughts -- An antidote to boredom -- Permission -- Virginia Slims -- Lone riders -- Style gets used up -- Bashert (fate; meant to be) -- After the desert.

"The Audacity of a Kiss tells the story of Leslie Cohen, from her youth in Queens, New York during the "Mad Men" era of the 1950s, to her young adulthood and coming of age in the turbulent 1960s and 70s, through her involvement in the women's movement and the sex, drugs, and rock and roll of 1970s NYC. Through it all, she narrates with honesty and humor her attempts to reconcile her feelings for other women with her upbringing during a time when the world designated gay people as mentally ill. In 1965, Leslie met Beth, the woman destined to be her life partner, and over the years, they weave through each other's lives until they finally realized what they meant to each other. From the conformity of the 1950s to the Civil Rights movement, the anti-war demonstrations, and the shift to long hair, pot, and women's and gay liberation, their story is set against the backdrop of the upheavals of the 1960s and 70s, and centers in part on Sahara, the groundbreaking women's nightclub Leslie opened with her partners in 1976 NYC. Sahara was the first elegant bar in New York City owned and operated by women for women, rather than being a seedy bar owned and operated by the Mafia, as were many of the gay clubs at the time. They hung contemporary artwork created by women and now hanging in major museums throughout the country. On Thursdays they showcased live acts. Celebrities such as Jane Fonda, Tom Hayden, Patti Smith, Pat Benatar, Warren Beatty, Gilda Radner, Jane Curtin, Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Bella Abzug, Adrienne Rich, Rita Mae Brown, and Ntozake Shange appeared there. In a time when much of the world was still very closeted, Leslie and Beth fell in love and posed for George Segal in 1979. The relationship between the history of this famous club, the intense love affair between these two women, and the iconic sculpture, "Gay Liberation" has never been told in its entirety until now"-- Provided by publisher.

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