We Walk Alone

By Ann Aldrich, Marijane Meaker and Stephanie Foote

Ann Aldrich flings a provocative assertion at her readers in 1955 when she opens her groundbreaking account of lesbian life in New York City by saying this book is the "result of fifteen years of participation in society as a female homosexual."

After the release of We Walk Alone, Aldrich became both a heroine and a scapegoat in some of the period's most contentious public debates over what exactly "lesbian culture" was. Her non-fiction pulp literally transformed the landscape overnight.

Part Kinsey-esque portraits of real people, part you-are-there reports on the scene in bars and offices and at clubs and house parties, this is a unique "cultural artifact," a compelling composite of an alienated yet amazingly self-aware community. Ann Aldrich is both observer and commentator, writing investigative journalism in the mode of Doris Lessing. As Stephanie Foote explains in her afterword, the combination produces "as rich and conflicted a look at the formation of lesbian urban culture as that of any contemporary queer historian."

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Feminist Press at CUNY
• Release date: Sep 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781558619333

Reviews for We Walk Alone

[datrappert · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Read as a curiosity only. Although written by a lesbian (Marijane Meaker) it adopts the stance that homosexuality is a sickness that perhaps in some cases can be cured. In one chapter, it says it's always the parents faults. From time to time, the author's own voice is probably sneaking through, since the overall tone of the book is sympathetic, but it is a hopeless mishmash of outmoded theories and case studies. One whole chapter--the most frightening one--does recount each of the 48 states' (yes, the book is that old) laws against "unnatural acts" and the like. In Georgia, homosexuality could be punished by life in prison, for instance. Perhaps it does say something about the public's curiosity that this book could be published alongside Gold Medal novels by the likes of John D. MacDonald! Meaker also wrote pulp novels, some with lesbian themes, as Vin Packer, and highly successful children's books as M.E. Kerr. She was also Patricia Highsmith's lover for two years. Quite a life--and she's going, over 90 years old now.