Lillian Faderman's portrait of her mother and aunt, lone survivors of their slaughtered family, who have come to America laden with hope, is full of tenderness and candor and sharp, often hilarious wit. It is her unsparing portrait of herself, however, that makes this book so riveting. She is serious and ambitious, loving and stubborn. She is ready to risk everything for knowledge. She also writes beautiful sentences, and her book is likely to become a classic self-portrait in a time of change in America

- Colm Tóibín,

A startling, dark, and wryly eloquent retelling of the American Dream. Who'd have thought a professor's life could be such a gripping page-turner?

- Emma Donoghue, author of ROOM and SLAMMERKIN,

How one woman used her good looks to land the girl of her dreams, and found a career where she could use her brains instead of her breasts. Today Lillian Faderman is a distinguished academic; her early days among Holocaust-scarred relatives and lesbian pimps on Sunset Strip are a testament to a personal vision in the face of historical struggle

- Sarah Schulman, author of THE COSMOPOLITANS, RAT BOHEMIANS and MY AMERICAN HISTORY,