Under the Rainbow: Growing Up Gay

by Arnie Kantrowitz

Under the Rainbow is one of the few genuine gay classics, the moving account of a life that has bridged the gap between the world before Stonewall and the world after. From growing up gay in the fifties to his involvement in the early gay rights movement, Kantrowitz writes about his life in all its aspects with wit, candor, intelligence, and great deal of good feeling. Revised and with a new afterword, this will remain an essential book for generations to come.

Genres: LGBT, Memoir, Nonfiction

217 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1978

Reviews

[Franklin Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an interesting self-examination of a gay life before the trauma of AIDS. There was much that I think any gay man can resonate with, but it also acts as an indication of how far the LGBTQ+ community has come in the past 40 years: the language has changed, the goals and aims have changed, the depth to which we understand a queer identity has changed. An easy read, and comfortingly personal, but a bit out-dated.

[Marcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best memoir I've ever read. Now I understand why my friend rereads it constantly. You totally want to re-read it as you're reading it for the first time. So thoughtful, funny, sad, myopic, depressed, angry, confused - all the parts of being a human being going through some shit. Some serious shit. You will relate to Arnie whether or not you're GLBT. We're all humans just trying to make it on this spinning rock.

[Sammi Brock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This riveting and informative book was so beautifully written and tragic that I felt I was living Arnie's life along side him. A portrayal of the early beginnings of the Gay Rights Movement, this informative book is a most read for everyone, especially the closeted and helpless members of the LGBT community.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

He was my English teacher in college. Amazing first person retelling of the Stonewall Riots and growing up in the coming of the LGBT age.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Under the Rainbow by Arnie Kantrowitz kicks the ass of City Boy: My Life in New York in the 1960s and 70s by Edmund White.