Books like Place at the Table: The Gay Individual in American Society

A PLACE AT THE TABLE by conservative writer Bruce Bawer was first published in 1993, and even twenty-five years later is still considered controversial by some. Generally gay readers applauded this sympathetic appeal for the inclusion of gays and lesbians into the full society. Some, though on the more militant side, thought it a little too "gay like me," since Bawer draws on his own experience in showing how he, as a well-thought-of freelance writer, quickly lost a job for an unspecified but inescapable reason after he came out to his allegedly liberal editor, "Vlad." Reaction was more mixed among non-gay readers. Many found it refreshing and readable, while others, who had had no trouble when Bawer recommended immigration quotas for Muslims, objected to his advocacy of gay rights. (Really, does it always depend on whose ox is being gored?)Sadly, this "controversy" still goes on, but I can say this about A PLACE AT THE TABLE: (1) it hasn't aged as much as I might have hoped; but (2) it is, as in all Bawer's works of advocacy, very well-written and engaging. The reader who picks it up is likely to be give much food for thought, even in 2018.